Consumer buying behavior towards energy drinks: a qualitative analysis

Abstract

Energy drinks refer to beverages that contain, besides calories, caffeine in combination with other presumed energy-enhancing ingredients such as taurine, herbal extracts, and B vitamins. They first appeared in Europe and Asia in the 1960s in response to consumer demand for a dietary supplement that would result in increased energy (Reissig and others 2009). In 1962, a Japanese company, Taisho Pharmaceuticals, launched Lipovitan D, one of the very 1st energy drinks, which is still dominating the Japanese market. Lipovitan D contains B vitamins, taurine, and ginseng, which are all frequent constituents of mainstream energy drinks with the intended purpose of providing the consumer with sus-tained energy, and to reduce mental and physical fatigue (Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. 2009). Energy drinks did not make their way into the U.S. market until 1997 when Red Bull was first introduced, which originated and was initially launched 10 years earlier in Austria (Reissig and others 2009).