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Keywords Consumer behaviour, Gender, Purchasing, Promotional coupons
Abstract Men have not traditionally been considered a viable target market for most household purchases and, thus, for coupon distribution. However, with significant social changes over the last several decades, men may offer an opportunity for sales growth in many product categories. This study surveyed 206 males and females to identify gender differences in products purchased, frequency of coupon use by product type, and coupon source. The study also used demographics and parental coupon use to profile gender differences. Men were found to play a major role in household purchases, particularly for groceries, and to be light users of coupons overall. Men also were found to purchase more online products and more food delivery services than women but to use fewer coupons. Men were, however, found to be heavy users of grocery store loyalty cards.
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Introduction
Conventional wisdom holds that the majority of coupon users are female, primarily because household purchases have traditionally been the role of the woman in the household. Although the demographic profile of US households has been changing over the last few decades, the preponderance of papers written and research conducted exploring factors that predispose an individual to coupon redemption remain focused solely on wives/mothers in nuclear families.
The reported research on coupon use includes an investigation of household demographics such as income and education, with varying conclusions (see, for example, Bawa and Shoemaker, 1987; Cronovich et al., 1997; Gonzales, 1988; Levedahl, 1988; Mittal, 1994; Montgomery, 1971). In general, most of the studies have found both income and education positively related to coupon use. However, the population of interest examined in these studies (while often stated as "families") is typically the wife/mother. With the exception of one recent study (Otnes and McGrath, 2001), men as "shoppers" have been largely ignored in the research literature.
Changing role of men
While we accept the premise that women continue to comprise the majority of coupon users, we see an opportunity for companies to enhance coupon effectiveness by targeting men. For a number of reasons, men have become increasingly more visible in the marketplace. We assert that the male...