Consumer Perceptions of Brain Health Benefits from Food & Supplements

hand holding a pill bottle over a table with vegetables on a plate and other bottles of pills

Problem

Before they can measure the cognitive benefits of food and supplements, nutrition researchers need to know how consumers perceive those benefits.

Despite their growing interest in brain health, consumers face conflicting messages about the effectiveness of foods and supplements in supporting cognitive function. A Global Council on Brain Health report from 2019 cautioned against unsubstantiated claims by supplement manufacturers, highlighting the need for rigorous research. The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) wanted to understand how consumers perceive cognitive benefits, what terminology they use, and how their perceptions align with scientific measures of cognitive performance. This research supports development of new measures to test cognitive functions that consumers expect will result from consumption of foods and dietary supplements.

Solution

NORC conducted qualitative research to explore consumer perceptions of brain health.

We designed and implemented a qualitative study to help IAFNS explore how consumers describe everyday cognitive tasks they want to improve and which foods and supplements they anticipate and experience receiving those benefits.

We recruited a diverse sample of adults ages 19-59 using targeted social media outreach. Four virtual focus groups were conducted, segmented by age, and moderated by NORC expert Alyssa Ghirardelli. The sessions explored terminology, desired outcomes, and expectations related to brain health products.

We used Dedoose for thematic, iterative, and reflexive coding and Tableau for data visualization, identifying key themes such as memory, focus, anxiety reduction, and prevention of cognitive decline. The study also supported the development of a consumer taxonomy of cognitive and affective health for nutrition research to consider how consumer language maps to validated cognitive performance tools, offering insights into how future research might better align scientific testing with consumer expectations.

Result

The study revealed consumers seek cognitive benefits like memory support, focus, and emotional regulation through foods and dietary supplements.

We found that consumers associate brain health with the ability to focus, retain information, and manage stress. Adults ages 31-59 emphasized expected cognitive benefits, such as memory and anxiety reduction, while younger adults highlighted processing speed and multitasking. Participants reported using foods and supplements to improve daily functioning, such as remembering appointments, resisting distractions, and performing complex work tasks. The research identified gaps between consumer perceptions and existing cognitive performance tools, suggesting opportunities for future studies to bridge these disconnects. NORC recommended in-depth interviews and controlled experiments to further explore these links and inform public health messaging and scientific claims.