The use of dietary supplements and vitamin consumption during and after the Covid pandemic in Vietnam: a perspective of user-generated content

Abstract This paper aims to examine the key determinants of User-Generated Content (UGC) affecting consumers’ purchase intention toward buying vitamin and dietary supplement products during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak through the social networking site, Facebook. Five determinants of UGC have been investigated in this context to highlight the association with the purchase intention of Vietnamese consumers these days, including Quality, Quantity, Trust, Utilitarian Value, and Hedonic Value of generated content by experienced users. This cross-sectional study collected data through an online survey questionnaire among 331 respondents from three different regions throughout the whole of Vietnam. The results show that Quality, Quantity, Trust, and Utilitarian Value of UGC have positive relationships with consumers’ intention to buy vitamin and dietary supplement products on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Hedonic Value of UGC is not associated with their behavioral intention of consumption. Lastly, the findings are expected to contribute valuable knowledge about COVID-19 from UGC and its consequences on health and selected supplement products for recent emerging changes. Finally, the results are also a solid premise for future research to enlarge the scale of situational issues and perspectives during the global COVID-19 pandemic.