Consumer Habits Men Versus Women

Women and Men as Consumers Consumer habits: Men vs. women "Men buy, women shop" (Wilder 2007). This statement succinctly sums up the differences between the sexes and their approach to consumerism. Women shop as a social experience for pleasure, men view entering a store as a goal-directed activity. This is immediately seen in how retailers lay out stores, depending on whether the store is primarily directed at women's shopping habits or men's shopping habits.

For example, "women are happy to meander through sprawling clothing and accessory collections or detour through the shoe department. They like to glide up glass escalators past a grand piano, or spray a perfume sample on themselves on their way to, maybe, making a purchase. For men, shopping is a mission. They are out to buy a targeted item and flee the store as quickly as possible" (Wilder 2007). Setting up a store so that premium items are hard-to-find is a more effective strategy when selling to women.

Women are willing to take a detour to their destination, and are more likely to impulse shop. If a man cannot find what he wants, he is more likely to simply give up and go elsewhere. Even when shopping by his own free will, men prefer more "obvious" displays: "If the [male] shopper is a wine connoisseur, for example, he'll feel more in his element at one of the store's organized tastings -- with merchandise on hand, of course -- than he would simply sifting through racks of clothes" (Poggi 2008).

Retailers can increase their sales figures if they are mindful of gender differences. For example, the view of shopping as a social experience vs. A goal-directed activity with the sole purpose of making a purchase is also reflected in the priority given by the genders as to what constitutes good service.

According to a 2007 study conducted by the Wharton School of Business, a "lack of help" was the reason women were most frustrated in a store, and "about 6% of all female shoppers could be lost to stores due to lack of sales help" (Wilder 2007).

Men, ranked the "difficulty in finding parking close to the store's entrance" as their number one problem and the "problem most likely to result in lost business from men is if the product they came to buy is out of stock; about 5% of all male shoppers could be lost to stores for this reason" (Wilder 2007).

Men were most upset when sales associates would not check in the storeroom for items they were searching for, while women rated poor interpersonal skills as the reason they rated their sales experience as unsatisfactory (Wilder 2007). These trends were most obvious in consumers over the age of 40 (Wilder 2007). In younger consumers, however, such trends held less hard and fast.

"We are seeing more men shopping alone or with their buddies" noted one retailer and surprisingly, according to the NPD Group, a retail market research firm, sales in men's apparel increased 1.6% in July, while women's sales actually dropped 4.1% (Poggi 2008). Traditionally male occupations in finance and manufacturing have been hardest hit by the recession, and many men are buying new clothes to enhance their job search.

Clothing stores have found that by making stores "men only" and including non-clothing amenities such as watches and luggage, they can lure men in -- men still dislike shopping for clothing, but using the lure of other items can increase foot traffic. The common image of the male, lolling in a sofa while his wife shops for clothes may be the reason for the common misperception that men do not shop at all -- rather, men merely shop differently, and enjoy buying different things than women.

The fact that men are less process-oriented shoppers makes online shopping a boon for them: men who shop online browse for goods "an average of 31 times a month vs. 22 times for women," "make 20% more purchases online each month than women" (Loechner 2004). Contrary to the stereotype of women as spendthrifts, online men spend more money than women, $204 versus $186 dollars per month on average (Loechner 2004). Not having to enter a store makes shopping more attractive for men.

Women still account for most of the purchases made in the economy, however, up to 85% overall. While the fact that they account for most food and healthcare purchases may be unsurprising, (93% of both respectively), they also account for 66% of PCs purchases and 65% of new cars ("Fast Facts," M2W, 2007). Thus, despite the lack of online sales, women simply tend to consume more frequently.

This indicates that, regardless of what they purchase, whether a stereotypically feminine purchase or not, women continue to enjoy shopping for reasons (such as a "pick me up" or a mood booster) beyond the immediate value or utility of the product in contrast to their male counterparts. The "relationship value" of.