A study on the factors that influence the purchasing decision of nutritional supplement products among degree students in UiTM Sabah / Nurul Fazlinda Talip

Nutritional supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs, meal supplements, sports
nutrition products, natural food supplements, and other related products used to boost the
nutritional content of the diet. (www.thefreedictionary.com). Nutritional supplements are
used for many purposes. They can be added to the diet to boost overall health and energy;
to provide immune system support and reduce the risks of illness and age-related
conditions; to improve performance in athletic and mental activities; and to support the
healing process during illness and disease. However, most of these products are treated as
food and not regulated as drug. (www.thefreedictionary.com). Dosage of nutritional
supplements vary widely, depending on the product and individual needs. Since, most of
people in Malaysia adore the beauty skin of the Korean people, this nutritional supplement
products is gaining popularity in the Malaysian market. Many business people try to import
other country's nutritional supplement products. Besides that, some of the business people
in Malaysia try to produce their own nutritional supplement products since these products
are high in demand. Students are also consumers of this nutritional supplement products, so
this research is aimed to determine which of nutritional supplement products are mostly
used by the degree students in UiTM Sabah. The research was done using survey
technique by distributing questionnaire to 295 respondents of whom are degree students in
Universiti Teknologi Sabah (UiTM Sabah).The result shows that many of the respondents
agree that certification, advertisement, and price are the factors that influenced the
purchasing decision of nutritional supplement products.