Consumers buy diet, vitamin and sports nutrition products for a variety of reasons, such as losing weight, providing energy for working out or preventing colds, but regardless of their wellness needs or goals, efficacy is the most important factor in driving sales of these products; they must believe that the products they buy in this category are contributing to these goals. And information and education are major factors in helping them to formulate those beliefs, according to a recent study by ECRM and HellaWella, a consumer-healthy living website owned by Lebhar-Friedman.

The study, based on a survey of more than 450 participants, examined how consumers, who are part of today’s healthy lifestyle culture, perceive diet, vitamin and supplement products from a wellness standpoint, and how these perceptions drive their shopping behavior. HellaWella(HellaWella.com — which provides news, research, product reviews and lifestyle tips for consumers interested in healthy and sustainable living) surveyed its audience this past December on how they shopped for vitamins, minerals and supplements.