Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a chemical compound from the Cannabis sativa plant. And its many forms, such as balms, oils and gummies, have become increasingly popular among today’s consumers, particularly considering it’s relatively new to the market.
So, overall how many Americans actually know what it is?
Data platform Invisibly, through its Realtime Research tool, discovered that many people still don’t understand the difference between CBD, and the closely related compounds of marijuana and THC.
In fact, the survey revealed that the majority of respondents (58%) did not know the difference.
68% of respondents who have not tried CBD said that they don’t know the difference between CBD and THC-containing products such as marijuana, and only 64% of respondents who have tried CBD did understand the difference between the compounds.
Meanwhile, 36% of respondents who have tried CBD did so without knowing the difference between CBD and THC-containing products. And 32% of respondents who have not tried CBD products still understood the difference between CBD and THC-containing products like marijuana.
The survey also revealed that, of the 47% of respondents who said they would consider using a CBD product, 24% said they would use it to reduce stress and anxiety, 14% said they would use or consider using CBD to reduce both stress and physical pain, and 9% said they would use or consider using CBD solely to reduce chronic physical pain.
Interestingly, according to Invisibly’s data, women use CBD more frequently than men and non-binary respondents, in both ingestible and topical forms.
In fact, 59% of women said they have tried both, compared to only 26% of men and 24% of non-binary respondents that have tried both. Women also tried topical CBD more than twice as much as their male and non-binary counterparts, making up 56% of the total, compared to 24% of men and 20% of non-binary respondents.
It’s clear there’s much work to be done in terms of educating consumers about CBD, its potential effects and the differences between CBD and marijuana. Herein lies a huge responsibility — and opportunity — for both retailers and their supplier partners.
