Photo: RetailWire
It’s been a longstanding practice for grocery executives to use the pronoun “she” when referring to the core customer shopping in their stores. If a new study from Men’s Health is to be believed, retailers may want to reconsider their descriptions as more guys report they are the person primarily responsible for grocery shopping in their households.
Eighty-four percent of men surveyed as part of the fourth “How Men Shop for Food” study said they are the primary grocery shoppers in their households. That’s a 19 percent increase over previous findings by Men’s Health. The survey was conducted online with Harris Poll, which queried men about grocery shopping, meal preparation, purchasing influences and other factors that affect their behavior.
“Men have an active role in each stage of the food purchasing process — before getting to the store, while there, and when cooking the food they’ve bought,” said Chris Peel, VP/publisher of Men’s Health, in a statement. “Food retailers are uniquely positioned to appeal to men throughout this cycle and to evolve their marketing plans based on this compelling data.”
Other findings from the study include:
- Sixty-six percent of men who are married or living with a partner go grocery shopping with a list, up 15 percent from previous research findings;
- Ninety-three percent of men prepare meals for themselves and 77 percent prepare them for others;
- Forty-eight percent of men watched cooking videos online over the past 12 months, a 27 percent increase from 2010;
- Thirty-five percent of men were influenced to try a new food or beverage by something they saw online.