Women are more likely to make impulse purchases when grocery shopping, while men are more likely to switch brands to avail of a special offer, a new study by Empathy Research for Checkout magazine has found.
The study, which features in the current edition of Checkout magazine, sought to determine the differences in the shopping habits of male and female shoppers. It found that 49% of women claim sole responsibility for shopping for their household, compared to 30% of men.
In addition, married women (43%) are considerably more likely than married men (15%) to do the shopping for their household.
The study also found that 40% of female shoppers are likely to make an impulse purchase every time they shop (15% do so ‘all the time’), compared to 29% of male shoppers (6% do so ‘all the time’).
When it comes to the likelihood of forgetting items while shopping, there is little difference between the sexes – 13% of men say they always/sometimes forget items, compared to 15% of women. However, single men (21%) are more than twice as likely than married men (9%) to forget items while shopping.
Men are marginally more swayed by special offers, the study found, with 87% of male respondents saying that special offers tended to influence their shopping habits (29% citing offers as a ‘big influence’), compared to 83% of women (23% ‘big influence’). In addition, men are more likely (76%) than women (71%) to switch brand to avail of a special offer.
“While this study indicates the subtle differences between how men and women conduct their weekly shop, both sexes have more in common than may have been previously thought,” said Stephen Wynne-Jones, Editor, Checkout. “Arguably the biggest difference, however, is seen in the shopping habits of married men compared to single men – married men tend to have significantly less responsibility for doing the shopping, and are considerably more attentive when doing so.”
“What’s interesting is the level of impulse purchases claimed amongst shoppers and the fact that women are more likely to be partaking in impulse purchasing,” said Robbie Clarke, Director, Empathy Research. “This perhaps puts pay to a common misconception that men are more impulsive and unplanned when they are shopping.”
The survey was conducted across a nationally-representative sample of 500 grocery shoppers aged 18 and over.
