News Flash: Men (Still) Don’t Like Shopping
There are certain physical acts males enjoy. Some of these are focused on striking one inanimate object (baseball, football, golf ball) with another (a bat, a shoe, a club). Others involve consuming items the approximate size of a sports coupe’s engine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan’s_Hot_Dog_Eating_Contest).
Similarly, there are certain physical acts males do not enjoy. A stereotype lumps the hunter-gatherer aspects of shopping into this category, and a new study from Experian Marketing Services affirms this.
Experian’s research breaks consumers into six segments identified by the Simmons Retail Shopper scheme, each with distinct attitudes toward shopping. Within these, the splits between men and women are as dramatic, if not more so, than differences between ages, income levels or geography.
Among all consumers, the largest segment is the Virtual Shoppers. This cohort, which makes up 26% of the population is attracted to bargains and uses the Internet to find discounts. Men make up the greatest part of this group: 31% fall into this category, compared with 21% of women. This is not surprising, as it is shopping group most easily joined from one’s home computer, likely while the shopper is simultaneously engaged in eating something the size of a beach ball.
Virtual Shoppers also tend to skew younger, with 18-34 year olds making up the highest percentage of this group. They’re also more affluent. Twenty nine percent of all consumers with household incomes in excess of $100,000 fall into this group. This is understandable: Internet-based shoppers have traditionally skewed higher in income rankings.
Men also make up a higher proportion of Just The Essentials consumers. While 14% of all shoppers fall into this category, among males this jumps to 18%, compared with 11% for women. These shoppers primarily focus on purchasing essentials: According to Experian’s report, “they know what they want and are not impulsive shoppers.”
The most striking reflection of male’s disdain for shopping is seen in the Status Strivers category. The 20% of all consumers falling within this cohort “think that shopping is fun and recreational: they like to browse as much as buy, and they’re willing to spend the money and time to keep up with trends.” Nearly three times as many women – 29% — fall into this category as do men (10%).
Men and women are a little closer in how they use online channels to research purchases before they buy. Overall, 17% fall into the Upscale Clicks cohort – those who use the Web to comparison shop, with the splits between men (19%) who do so and women (15%) less dramatic than in other categories.
Where do men and women find common ground, regarding their attitudes toward shopping? They’re closely aligned within the Original Traditionalists segment: 14% of women are loyal to preferred brands, stores and services, as do 13% of men. They’re also the most environmentally conscious group, according to Experian – which may serve as a damper on marketers wanting to use green messaging as a mass, as opposed to targeted, marketing strategy.
And they’re inclined toward trying new products, stores and styles in similar levels – albeit comparatively low levels. Overall, 10% are Mall Maniacs, as quantified by Experian. These figures hold constant for women – 11% of whom fall into this category – and men – 9%, the lowest, for males, of the segments ranked.
