Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping

In shopping, men tend to be “loose cannons” while “women are better at it” (101). Older people lately make up a larger percentage of shoppers, and they have time and money to invest in the process. Children, once ignored, are now taken into account. These groups each behave differently in stores. 

Differences in shopping styles persist between men and women. Women still do most of the buying, and do so competently, while men are more haphazard and “reckless.” A man will walk faster, will ignore anything not on his list, won’t ask for directions, and leaves in a hurry: “It’s as if the sheer fact of being in the store is a threat to his masculinity” (103-04). Men are more comfortable shopping for clothes at stores such as LL Bean, Cabela’s, and REI that feature hunting and fishing equipment.

Women are much pickier: Where men buy 65% of what they try on, women purchase only 25%; women also check price tags more often than men, who are therefore more easily sold on more expensive items. At the grocery store, roughly two-thirds of all purchases are impulse buys. Men are more impulsive than women, and they buy more treats when their kids accompany them.