DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN THE SEXES: A FOCUS ON MALE‐FEMALE GROCERY SHOPPING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the nature and extent of differences, if any, between male and female grocery shoppers in terms of grocery shopping behavior and attitudes and with respect to those store criteria that are important in selecting a food store. The results suggest that the underlying constructs influencing grocery shopping behavior and attitudes are basically the same for the male and female shoppers; however, the findings indicated that the degree to which some of these behavior/attitude factors impact resulted in a difference in grocery shopping patterns between the sexes. Further, even though some differences were observed in the relative importance rankings of 22 store‐selection criteria, the overriding pattern was one of congruence between the two groups of respondents. The paper concludes with a discussion of the strategic implications of the findings for the food retailer.