According to Industry Transparency (ITC) Supplement Consumer research, trust in a brand depends on several factors, no matter the channel of sale. Recognizing these factors and their importance to different consumer segments can give brands a loyalty boost, leading to much higher lifetime value through repeat purchases as well as these consumers becoming, in their own right, influencers. It’s simply a gift that keeps on giving.

At the top of the list of trust builders is the health care professional recommendation. ITC’s consumer research has shown this is extremely important for older consumers, but regardless of age, a recommendation from a clinician increases confidence for all consumers. When we consider that the term ‘professional’ includes not only doctors but also pharmacists, dietitians, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, chiropractors, naturopaths, and others, we can recognize the significant influence and scope of this group. In fact, some might be concerned about the lack of knowledge, training, and experience that certain clinicians have reguarding nutrition, particularly when it comes to supplements. Therefore, advancing the dialogue with health care professionals is an imperative – for industry, suppliers, brands, and associations.

Those older consumers, quite predictably, also over-index for long term brand use as a driver of trust. What though, are the true drivers of younger consumers – those that are most new to the category and hopefully will stay with these brands and our products in general the longest?

As the chart below shows, consistent product quality sits right behind a healthcare professional recommendation, especially for those 35-54, and for both females and males. Clinical research on the brand, again for both females and males is the next most popular response for that age group, while those younger 18-34 go next for a values-based seal or certification on the label or website, females slightly more responsive than males. A quality-based seal or certification is also highly valued, this time skewing male and to those 35-54 ahead of those 18-34.

‘Brand values align with my own’ is another response that is quite popular and also skews younger and a bit further across the selection set we see ‘transparent supply chain’, also with younger respondents. Transparency itself is a word with numerous attributes, but when it is combined with the word supply chain, it is obvious that consumers want to know about the ingredients, sourcing process, relationships, farms, fields and more. This in turn means that a brand delivering on this value needs to have and present this information and culture and if doing this, along with the other trust attributes, will have a winning combination to younger supplement consumers. This also means the brand must have a deep and special relationship with its suppliers if it is consistently going to provide this level of information.

We made earlier note of the response ‘clinical research on the brand’. Further down in popularity is the response ‘clinical research on the ingredient’. In reality, the latter is much more frequent although we are increasingly seeing research at the brand level. Often this is impractical, especially across a breadth of sku’s and so the true practical expectation is, at least clinical research on the ingredient. This is a core premise of most branded ingredients of which we are strong advocates. In fact, though, many ingredients do not have enough proprietary technology and patentability behind them to justify the investment required to do clinical research. In this case, at brand level, it should be ensured that the ingredient research base is effectively documented – again, this is part of operating transparently and of building trust.