Wharton Study Confirms Conventional Shopping Wisdom

Ronald Bailey | November 29, 2007

Sometimes it seems that academicians spend a great deal of their time and effort in confirming things that their grandmothers told them. For example, according to a new Wharton study:

When it comes to shopping, women are from Nordstrom's and men are from Sears.

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, according to new Wharton research.

Duh.

Article detailing the results of the Wharton study here.

Disclosure: On the other hand, I have been known to wander around more or less aimlessly in Best Buys and Lowe's just to marvel at the cornucopia of neat stuff they sell. When I'm in my consumer trance, I don't want to be bothered by any salespeople. 

Comments

The Wine Commonsewer|11.29.07 @ 11:34AM|#

RE: Ron's Disclaimer:

Me Too. :-)

We're not testing perfume but we are getting off on a little snort of sawdust and a spritz of chain saw oil. And man, look at that post hole digger.....

Jennifer|11.29.07 @ 11:38AM|#

It's a Zen thing, dude. Focus on the journey, not the destination.

(Full disclosure: I hate shopping malls and perfume.)

thoreau|11.29.07 @ 11:42AM|#

I wander aimlessly at Barnes and Noble. In fact, I've found reading assignments for a course I'm designing by wandering aimlessly at Barnes and Noble.

|11.29.07 @ 11:45AM|#

Thoreau

But books and perfume are completely different! ;)

|11.29.07 @ 11:46AM|#

I flip through catalogs of metal things while I'm on the toilet.

That's man-shopping.

Reinmoose|11.29.07 @ 11:47AM|#

It's Borders, Best Buy, and (*blushes*) the Macy's Cookware Department (great deals.. GREAT deals) for me.

|11.29.07 @ 12:01PM|#

It's an evo-devo thing: hunting vs. gathering.

|11.29.07 @ 12:03PM|#

Weirdly, meandering through Target when I need to get WAY out of the house has a thereputic effect.

But yeah, any electronics store in a port. Surfing newegg or thinkgeek just doesn't have the same effect.

|11.29.07 @ 12:14PM|#

As my mother taught me, women go shopping, men go hunting. It's a XX/XY chromosome thingee.

Sam Grove|11.29.07 @ 12:15PM|#

This is the best manual post hole digger I've seen. Got one a couple years back and it beats the old style digger hands down. Don't you want to rush out and buy one?

|11.29.07 @ 12:26PM|#

I'm married to a woman who shops like a man. It's near the top on the list of reasons why I love her.

|11.29.07 @ 12:26PM|#

When I do browse it's at Best Buy. Pretty, pretty plasma screen tvs.

|11.29.07 @ 12:37PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

|11.29.07 @ 12:47PM|#

My husband and I are skilled in both styles of shopping. We are very good at the surgical strike method, but we also enjoy a good 2-hour ramble through Lowe's or an afternoon spent at an outlet center or the furniture and textile shops of your Local Historic Crafty Village.

On the clothing front, my husband is a woman's dream come true. He picks clothes and fetches sizes... Once I make it to the dressing rooms, I'm stuck there, because he keeps bringing things back for me to try.

And when I find a pair of shoes he says, "go ahead and get the brown pair, too."

Yep. He's a keeper.

|11.29.07 @ 12:47PM|#

We hate the mall.

|11.29.07 @ 12:48PM|#

joe,

Yes.

I do the same thing in fabric and yarn shops, too.

The Wine Commonsewer|11.29.07 @ 1:08PM|#

Sam, that is a GREAT post hole digger.

|11.29.07 @ 1:10PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

joe,

Yup. When you start thinking of things to break, so you can buy the tools to fix them, then it's time to seek help.

The Wine Commonsewer|11.29.07 @ 1:14PM|#

I'm married to a woman who shops like a man

I'm married to a woman who says stuff like I know the Rotozip is expensive, but you should get it anyway.

And, she can be trusted with a credit card. :-)

dhex|11.29.07 @ 1:19PM|#

i can't roll with clothes shopping but knicknacks are sweet as fuck.

also thoreau next time you are teh city i will take you to strands, aka the used bookstore that smells like your grandma and is hells of awesome.

|11.29.07 @ 1:20PM|#

joe--Sorta, I get projects that justify buying cool tools. I have leftover computer parts from upgrading my main system (motherbaord, CPU, etc) and I don't need another computer in the house, so now I'm building my own Tivo.

Now I have to buy other parts to complete the monster, but it will live! (and time-shift and record and pause and rewind...) The wife will hate it, that much I know. :-)

|11.29.07 @ 1:21PM|#

TWC--I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

You lucky, lucky bastard.

|11.29.07 @ 1:54PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

If God had intended me to do home repairs, he wouldn't have invented the Yellow Pages.

|11.29.07 @ 2:03PM|#

I wander in gun stores. "*gasp* Is that an original AR-180? And is that a Norinco SVD? Oh God, a SIG 560!" Stupid guns, costing money.

|11.29.07 @ 2:18PM|#

Are you all sure this is H&R? 23 comments and nobody's called anyone else a name nor questioned their intelligence yet.

Disclosure: I wander Borders, Best Buy, and (gasp) Michael's craft stores.

|11.29.07 @ 2:19PM|#

Your ass smells like shit, anonymoose.

T|11.29.07 @ 2:59PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

No, I wait for the wife to come up with projects so I have excuses for new tools. We're staging our house to put on the market after the 1st of the year. She's already told me she wants a room in the new house to be a library with built in bookshelves. I'm gonna milk that for every woodworking tool I can lay my hands on.

If I really want something, I'll let her "help" and give her the crappy manual Harbor Freight tool that'll kind of do the job. After she struggles with that for a while, I'll casually mention that there's a power tool that would make it much easier that we don't have. Next thing you know, I'm off to the hardware store.

|11.29.07 @ 3:07PM|#

My wife drives off to the mall and stays there for hours on end. Fortunately the bills are quite reasonable at the end of the day.

Me, I surf for guitars all day on eBay. Guitar Center is more of a "surgical strike" operation--walk in quickly, see if any interesting used guitars showed up since last week, walk out quickly before salespests descend on me.

Other than guitars and CDs, I don't shop unless my clothes are tattered beyond wearing or I've run out of chips and salsa.

|11.29.07 @ 3:18PM|#

I told a woman at a party last night that I don't buy anything unless it is to replace something I already have that is worn out or broken, and she shook her head made some comment about guys being a different species.

|11.29.07 @ 4:35PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

I bought a conduit bender a few years ago just in case I might need to bend some conduit some day.

T, if you're building shelving, or doing any kind of cabinetry, you simply must get yourself a JET.

|11.29.07 @ 4:50PM|#

BTW, I just hope no public funding went into this fatuous study.

What next, a study showing that more men than women are willing to go shirtless at football games?

|11.29.07 @ 5:26PM|#

I admit I would use it very infrequently, but damn if I don't lust after $600 air compressors so I could get a full set of real pneumatic tools.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 1/2" Impact wrench.........

|11.29.07 @ 5:47PM|#

When I'm in my consumer trance, I don't want to be bothered by any salespeople.

Good luck with that at Best Buy. Those lil' fuckers need to be fended off with pepper spray.

Paul|11.29.07 @ 5:48PM|#

They are out to buy a targeted item and flee the store as quickly as possible, according to new Wharton research.

And I have this here new thing called a Transistor Radio. What ever will they think of next? A pen with its own ink, perhaps?

What rock has this Wharton guy been under?

Paul|11.29.07 @ 5:50PM|#

Does anyone else ever see a really neat tool in a hardware store and start trying to come up with projects that require them, so you can justify buying it?

No, all of my tools will have a use someday. I'm quite sure of it.

LarryA|11.29.07 @ 7:22PM|#

I can definitely stretch a fifteen minute gun store visit into three hours. Contrary to spousal opinion, there are still fireams I don't already own.

And I'm happy to accompany my wife to the mall. Never mind the merchandise, it's peoplewatching heaven. I get more ideas for characters there than anywhere else.

The Wine Commonsewer|11.29.07 @ 7:51PM|#

JW, I am impressed with all that electronica. And I thought I was cool because I could put in an HD and make it a slave drive. [shrugs] oh well.