Online Purchase of Health Supplements and Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) Products: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Online purchase of health supplements (HS) and traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) is becoming more popular among the general public. However, how does public behave in such activity is yet to be explored. Thus, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the public’s experience with purchasing HS and T&CM products online. A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct in-depth interviews (IDIs) with ten adults. All IDIs were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Two themes emerged from the analysis, including (i) information seeking to understand a product, and the (ii) motivating attributes that influence purchase intention. Participants searched for information in order to understand a product, verified the information obtained, and held a spectrum of perceptions on the reliability of information. Furthermore, motivating attributes that suggest product effectiveness and safety would increase one’s intention to purchase, whereas motivating attributes that convince an individual that the online sales mechanism is reliable would also strengthen the purchase intention of online HS and T&CM products.