Holiday shopping News
The holiday season in the United States brings a renewed interest in stories impacting the retail industry to mainstream media outlets. Reflecting this, two stories about gender differences in the ways men and women shop made the news this week.
CNN Money (2007) reported on the "Online Holiday Shopping Survey" by GSI Commerce (n = 2,818, online). More women reported that they would be swayed by "limited time offers" and "convenient returns" than men. Men and women were equally concerned about shopping with a well-known brand.
Meanwhile, Forbes (2007) reports on a study entitled "Men Buy, Women Shop" by Wharton research (n = 1250, telephone), which reports that women are more concerned with personal service while men are concerned with utilitarian aspects of the shopping experience. Women in the Wharton survey reported slightly more "problems while shopping" than men did (53% to 48%). The Forbes story quotes Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch on the ideal male retail experience: "[men] want to deal with an ATM machine. They really don't want to deal with a person."
If I am stereotypically male in any area of my life, it's my ideal shopping experience. For the love of god, please don't approach me, please don't tell me about new items or special offers, just mark the goods clearly and leave me alone. I love the self-checkout lines at the grocery store. I love shopping online. I even order my dinner online about 5 days per week. However, one thing that I don't feel is reflected in these surveys is the male tendency to research purchases. I'm sure I'm suffering from observer bias here, but the weeks of extensive reading that all my male partners have done before buying a new toy, computer, or tool has always amazed me. I don't have the patience for it, myself.
CNN Money (2007) reported on the "Online Holiday Shopping Survey" by GSI Commerce (n = 2,818, online). More women reported that they would be swayed by "limited time offers" and "convenient returns" than men. Men and women were equally concerned about shopping with a well-known brand.
Meanwhile, Forbes (2007) reports on a study entitled "Men Buy, Women Shop" by Wharton research (n = 1250, telephone), which reports that women are more concerned with personal service while men are concerned with utilitarian aspects of the shopping experience. Women in the Wharton survey reported slightly more "problems while shopping" than men did (53% to 48%). The Forbes story quotes Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch on the ideal male retail experience: "[men] want to deal with an ATM machine. They really don't want to deal with a person."
If I am stereotypically male in any area of my life, it's my ideal shopping experience. For the love of god, please don't approach me, please don't tell me about new items or special offers, just mark the goods clearly and leave me alone. I love the self-checkout lines at the grocery store. I love shopping online. I even order my dinner online about 5 days per week. However, one thing that I don't feel is reflected in these surveys is the male tendency to research purchases. I'm sure I'm suffering from observer bias here, but the weeks of extensive reading that all my male partners have done before buying a new toy, computer, or tool has always amazed me. I don't have the patience for it, myself.