Gender And Shopping Essay

Submitted By blackcat2015
Words: 1898
Pages: 8
Open Document
Kuang 1
Zhenzhen Kuang
English 102 D2
Dr. Su
Gender and Shopping: How Are They Related? Though shopping became a strong power in the economic development of most countries, it is widely regarded as a gender related activity. Women have fun picking out goods while men quickly buy what they need and leave. In reality, shopping behavior between men and women is not strictly based off of difference in gender. Differences in interests and personalities, and prior shopping experiences heavily influence shopping behavior. Shopping has various functions for various individuals. For some it is a leisure activity where people enjoy walking around looking for nothing in particular – i.e. the recreational shopper (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980). For others, it is considered a work type activity where people do not enjoy the activity very much, only doing it when absolutely necessary – called the convenience shopper (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980). It has been a well-established fact for several years that men and women shop differently. For instance, Lunt and Livingstone (1992) argued that at least in industrialized countries men and women have very different roles to play, and that they would make very different decisions. Additionally, Lunt and Livingstone (1992) and later Miller (1998) made a case that the actual act of shopping seemed to be much more part of the woman’s domain, while the man’s role was to take care of monetary issues. Similarly, Campbell (1997) showed that women are much more interested in the activity than men are, and that they also much more likely to have a much more positive attitude to the activity than men do. However, Otnes and McGrath (2001) were the first to explore the male shopping experience in more detail and identified three stereotypes of men’s
Kuang 2 shopping behavior. These are: “grab and go,” “whine and wait,” and “fear of the feminine.” The ‘grab and go shopper’ is one who does not want to waste a lot of time in the process of shopping. This shopper knows what he wants, and therefore does not need to spend much time looking around therefore he goes to the store buys what he wants and leaves. The ‘whine and wait shopper’ is the disinterested shopper who endures but does not enjoy the process, while someone else does the shopping. ‘Fear of the feminine’ refers to a dislike by men of doing anything that could be considered as a female activity. Bakewell and Mitchell (2004), mentions that although no one shops the same way, it is an activity that most human beings participate in. From young children to older people, there is no exception; everyone has their own personal experience with shopping. Younger children are usually involved in shopping only in the company of their parents, while older children and teenagers can often be found hanging out in shopping malls with each other (Anthony, 1985). Once the teenage years are over, there will be yet another change in the social context of shopping behavior, as one goes from shopping with friends, to shopping with a partner, to shopping with their own family. As a person goes through life there can be several changes in how that person shops. This applies to both men and women. Not all men dread stepping into stores and looking around but most men do. Not all women find walking for hours until something catches their eyes fun, yet quite a few of them enjoy it. Although not as common, there are some women who hate having to shop unless they absolutely have to. The way a person shops is shaped by their previous experiences and their personality. Gender has nothing to do with it. But the truth is, whether they like shopping or not, all men and women do it differently. Stores aim to lure men and women to shop by focusing on their differences. Stores make the experience more interactive—"touching a fabric, staging it with matching bags—will prompt a woman to want to
Kuang 3 buy more." Men, on the other hand, just want to know where the product is
Show More

Related Documents: Gender And Shopping Essay

Shopping Gender Roles

Shopping had become a recreation, a moment of time that usually deemed to be fun looking for sales, shopping at the nicer department stores. Anne Norton explains that shopping is a subversive activity for women to actually create a time that is actually theirs. Shopping has become a hobby instead of a necessity for material of possessions due to the popular pressure to uphold to the supposed ideals of the conditioned masses. Shopping as a feministic activity is considered to be a contribution to…

Words 456 - Pages 2

What Should Vendors Do To Make Online Shopping Increasingly Popular Among Females?

What Should Vendors Do To Make Online Shopping Increasingly Popular Among Females? There are gender differences in online shopping behaviors. To motivate online commerce, online vendors have attempted to stimulate the willingness of shoppers, especially female customers, to spend more on online purchases. However, according to a study by Awad & Ragowsky (2008), women generally spend more time searching products online than men, but are less likely to purchase online. In order to figure out ways…

Words 1760 - Pages 8

Gender Socialization Essay

Families influence our gender expectations. They make sure their kids dress a certain way and the kids do not get to choose their own clothing that is not gender based. The clothing the families choose for their kids reflects their gender identity. Families who are in poverty cannot afford to go to stores such as gap and justice that we compared for our project. These families are underprivileged and Johnson’s definition of privilege is white, heterosexual, middle/ upper class and non-disabled.…

Words 412 - Pages 2

research proposal Essay

analyze Cardiff university students market volume and university students’ attitude towards A&F. • Use online survey to know the frequency and factors influence shopping. • Use focus group to get insight of factors and reasons influence the choice of shopping. • Use observation method to distinguish the difference of consuming behavior in gender. It will cost around £13500 and 14 weeks to conduct the research design in this proposal. Sample questionnaire and topic guide are also provided within this…

Words 4153 - Pages 17

RIM ASSIGNMENT Essay

theoretical background part. The extent of impulsive purchase of consumers with different genders is compared according to the data collected. The chosen sampling strategy, Stratified random, and the design of questionnaire are also explained in the methodology part. Moreover, the report includes relevant factors like design and price that would influence customers’ impulsive decision making with different genders. As a result, it shows that over 50% customers had unplanned purchases in Topshop/Topman…

Words 3381 - Pages 14

An Example Of Gender Socialization In Toy Advertising

an example of gender socialization I found was a toy advertisement on Walmart online shopping. They have 2 different kind toy section for boy and girl. The top picture is the girl toy advertisement, which the lovely color is pink. The main category is dolls, dollhouses, arts, and crafts. The bottom one is the boy toy advertisement, which the main strong color is blue, purple, and black. The main category is Amazing Zhus, Avengers, Batman, Crayola, and Disney Cars. These toys could present to children…

Words 144 - Pages 1

letter to wal mart Essay

parents who have a male by sex, but gender identifies as a female, and how hard shopping must be for them. Patriarchy started the idea that sex, and gender went hand in hand, and from their determined your role in society, but knowing what we know today being that an individual might be one sex, but self-identify as the opposite gender, it is disappointing that a major clothing distributor like yourself are still supporting this ideology. Stereotypical sex, and gender colors limits equal access to resources…

Words 1481 - Pages 6

Quantatative Techniques in Business Essay

today it has over 400 stores nationwide. It is famous for offering best quality products, facilitating shopping experience, and weeding the redundant costs out for the customers. 1.3 Sample Characteristics In the survey, 30 out of 51 people answered the questions. The Descriptive statistics of data is shown in the three tables given below. Table 1: Gender Characteristics Gender | | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | Valid | Female | 13 | 43.3 | 43.3 |…

Words 2204 - Pages 9

Plan: Marketing and Cake Shop Essay

330 Pinjarra Road Shopping Centre Mandurah WA 6210 www.partycake.com.au (08)98372565…

Words 348 - Pages 2

Lowes Foods Gender Roles

Gender dynamics within the workplace have long been a subject of sociological inquiry. One particularly intriguing facet of this discourse is the allocation of physical tasks, which often raises questions about gender-based differences in job duties and responsibilities. In this study, we aim to investigate whether men, instead of women, predominantly perform the physical tasks at Lowes Foods. In this setting, the dynamics of gender, work, and community intersect, shaping the experiences and interactions…

Words 434 - Pages 2