There is a saying that women shop, and men buy. This is somewhat true. Men are more likely to make a faster decision if they believe they’re getting a good value at the moment, while women are more likely to take their time understanding the company’s values in addition to the quality of the product before buying.

Hunter-Gatherer Society

There are some theories about the hunter-gatherer society and how it affects the way men and women shop. Men hunted, and women gathered. Men had to find their prey and spear it right away or lose it. Women would forage for the just the right berries, and just the right mushrooms or they risked killing their family. Some claim that this is why men buy, and women shop. It’s all about survival.

Women Buy More than Men

There are a lot of jokes about spendthrift women, and how women control the purse strings, but there are reasons for this. Even in today’s modern society, women do most of the child rearing and caring for a family’s needs. Therefore the lion’s share of shopping falls to women. Not for handbags and shoes, but for items her entire family needs. Continue reading →

When making purchase decisions, men tend to think logically. They determine that there is a problem, search for information, evaluate the alternatives, then make their purchase. Most men are motivated to buy anything based on a perceived need. Once they recognize the need or identify a problem that needs to be solved, they go through information seeking.

The process of seeking information goes like this:

What do they know already? – Men tend to search their own memories and thoughts to figure out what they already know about the issues. Sometimes, if men think they already know enough they will make a purchase right away. It depends on how strong the need is, or how urgently they need the problem solved.

What do their friends know? – Next, men are likely to ask their friends what they think about their need. They like to find out how others have solved their problems. Men value the advice of their friends about what to buy and where to buy. Men trust their friends and value the information that they gather from them.

What external information can they find? – Men then tend to do research using both personal computers as well as mobile devices to find the information and confirm the information they previously thought was true as well as whether what their colleagues thought was true. Men are more likely than women to read online reviews before purchasing. Continue reading →