Men Buy Groceries
From Single Fathers to Men who love Cooking, Men Buy Groceries
While women for the most part are still considered the primary grocery buyers of households there is a growing number of men buying groceries and are taking over as the lead household grocery buyer. Many advertisers use different food advertising tricks to appeal to women, such as emphasizing health and nutrition, displaying family-oriented scenes, and employing emotional appeals. These strategies, however, may not be appealing to male shoppers, who may prioritize convenience, taste, or cost over other considerations.
Ranging from single fathers to men who just love the art of cooking, appealing to male shoppers can be a smart move for grocery stores, food manufacturers, and anyone who wants to catch the eye of the head shopper in the house. Whether it’s due to the increase in unemployed men or just a growing appreciation for cooking, it’s time to make room for dad in the food aisles.
Studies showing that men are more likely to do grocery shopping for their families also reveal a few key habits that can help advertisers become more effective when advertising to male shoppers. A large number of male shoppers report that although they do a significant amount of the shopping in their homes, they often come armed with a grocery list that is made by the female partner in the house. Often, this is complete with brand names, sizes, and even coupons to redeem at the checkout. So while men are more likely to do the actual shopping, women are still making a large amount of the household purchasing decisions when it comes to grocery and food items. This means that in order to appeal to the male shopper in the house, grocery stores may want to focus on making it easier for women to provide shopping lists- for example, by creating printable lists that can be taken to the store by the male shopper.
Because Men Buy Groceries, Grocery retailers should tailor advertising to Male Shoppers
For men who shop because they enjoy creating meals for their family, there are different implications for advertisers. Many men still enjoy creating traditional “man food”- barbecue, ribs, steak, and other dishes that are seen as being more masculine to create. But this doesn’t mean that male grocery shoppers are filling their baskets with beer and shaving cream- male grocery shoppers are purchasing product from the same categories as female shoppers, and in roughly the same amounts. With a greater number of male shoppers searching the aisles, grocery retailers should pay increased attention to how displays appeal to male shoppers. This also means that more men than ever are searching online to find recipe ideas and tricks and tips for creating the perfect meal. For advertisers, this means that online marketing ideas such as how-to videos that demonstrate cooking techniques should be created to appeal to male viewers.
The Gourmet Ads network of sites has an audience that reflects the changing roles of shoppers. Roughly 62% of our readers are female, and about 38% are male- a demographic that matches closely Nielsen research stating that grocery buyers are 61% female and 39% male. We see this rather consistently across all the sites in Gourmet Ads.
Advertising your products with Gourmet Ads allows you to not only reach both men and women. When you begin your next marketing campaign, consider how Gourmet Ads can help you put your products in front of Mr Grocery Buyer.
Remember that men in fact do buy groceries.
