Use of Natural Health Products How Does Being “Natural” Affect Choice?

Introduction. Little is currently known about how and why consumers choose to use natural health products (NHPs), such as herbs and vitamins. Objective. The objective of this study was to explore how the product attributes of NHPs and conventional pharmaceutical sleep aids are linked to consequences and values in consumers’ decision making. Methods. During the spring and summer of 2007, 60- to 90-minute semistructured, laddering interviews based on the means-ends chain approach were conducted with 25 participants experiencing sleep problems in Toronto, Canada, who were selected to have a range of demographic characteristics. Results. Participants varied considerably in the complexity of their decision processes, as between 3 and 14 attribute-consequence-value associations were elicited per interview. The factors found to be most important in determining the type of sleep aid chosen by consumers were whether the product was natural or chemical, whether it was perceived to work or have side effects, and par...