Exploratory study of dietary supplement consumption among athletes

The study aims to explore athletes' dietary supplement preferences: athletes of different levels and from different sports have been involved in the research, thus ensuring its complexity. In the article, a series of in-depth interviews with 30 respondents, mystery shopping, and an international literature analysis conducted using the PRISMA method are presented, which serve as a suitable basis for subsequent large-scale quantitative research. Based on the research covering 31 different sports, it can be said that the use of various dietary supplements is mainly characteristic of individual athletes and those who train partly or entirely in gyms. Hypothetically, four consumer groups could be identified based on consumer awareness and dietary supplement consumption, which are as follows: conscious athletes, rational curious consumers, influenceable changers, and trend followers. Higher-level and long-time athletes are the most conscious when choosing dietary supplements. For consumers, price, quality, and composition are the main considerations when purchasing dietary supplements.