Consumer behavior of energy gel in male runners

Oral Presentation

Abstract

Over recent years, running have become one of popular sports events. Energy gel is one of sport supplement that runners choose in the competition. Energy gel is carbohydrate supplement in semi-solid form. It contains in a small packet with a convenient and easy to carry. Most of energy gel provides high carbohydrate and other electrolytes that suitable for endurance athletes. This research has attempted to assess consumer behavior in energy gel among a sample of Thai male runners (n = 404) age between 30 – 39 years. The result showed that Thai runners consuming energy gel in various distances; Most runners consume energy gel in mini-marathon 10 km (39.49 %) follow by half-marathon 21.1 km (25.93 %), fun run <10 km (18.86 %), full marathon 42 km (10.02 %) and ultra-trail (5.70 %), respectively. Thai runners chose energy gel for various reasons for example, give rapid energy, fullness, and convenience. The duration time that runners chose to ingest gel were before the competition 49%, during the competition 43% and after the competition 8%, respectively. The most popular flavor were fruits, cola, and chocolate, respectively. Factors that influenced consumers to buy energy gels were flavor, nutrition value, and convenience. In conclusion, this study showed the energy gel consumption behavior of Thai runners and this study will be a guideline for further development of suitable energy gels for runners.