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They say that men don’t like to ask for directions. Well, that reluctance to seek expert advice may extend to the shopping cart. Because a study in the Journal of Consumer Marketing finds that guys also will likely avoid asking salespeople for suggestions about wine.
Researchers from the University of New Hampshire set their sights on vino because lots of people drink the stuff, so lots of people purchase it. And choosing which wine to bring to a party or to offer the boss is one of those things that can induce different degrees of anxiety, depending on one’s experience and general level of snobbishness, I’m sorry, confidence.
The scientists surveyed more than 500 participants, asking whether and where they might turn for advice when selecting a wine for themselves or for others. And they found that women tend to talk to friends, family, or the guy stocking the shelves, before making a purchase. Whereas guys are more likely to go it alone or to rely on information they’d found online or next to the register. So wine merchants take heed. Ads seem to work on guys. Now all they have to do is find their way to the liquor store.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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11 Comments
Add CommentApparently I must be a woman?!?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot only do I ask for directions, but I also ask for help in supermarkets. The only times I've ever seen the stereotype described in action is when I'm visiting and my in-town host is too embarrassed when driving me around their turf to be seen asking for directions. Otherwise I don't see it happening.
Go figure.
How statistically significant is this? I've been very disappointed lately to see Scientific American's following of popular journalism's love of asserting absolute distinctions between sexes (or other groups) without any sort of statistical analysis.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-Thoria
The quality at SciAm has definitely slipped.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a man and I seldom ask for directions, because I seldom have to, contrary to my wife. When she is lost, she falsely assumes that I am.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"women tend to talk to friends, family, or the guy stocking the shelves"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, after reading this list, I'm sure that I am a guy.
My friends, with few exceptions, don't drink wine.
My family has two extremes; "if it's wet, it's good" or "a slight woody flavor with a touch of rasberry and a soft bouquet of ancient North Umbrian peat make this 1997 vintage bogwort of a delectable rarity, well worth $150 an ounce"
And I'm sorry, but I seldom ask opinions of the guys who stock shelves. They may be absolute experts but chances are not great.
Finally, I believe that all wine that tastes good *is* good, and that is true for almost all wines marketed today. If not, pour it out in the compost pile, and open another bottle.
Directions? I don't need no steeenkeeng directions...!
Admittedly they don't nail down the percentages, but "tend to" and "are more likely to" are hardly absolute assertions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut let's remember folks: part of SI's mission is to be a public advocate for science. If they have to put out short sketchy sound bites like these "60-second" podcasts to get some people interested in science at all, so be it.
If you want something meatier, stop complaining about the appetizers and step up to the buffet.
I THINK this is the orig publication abstract, but it's hard to tell from the SciAm article vs the abstract.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=782BFF3268DE6A18F2FDE88D88F3634D?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkpdf&contentId=1816995&history=true
Who is "they?" Did "they" happen to write a paper on a study that you can cite?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps men don't ask for directions in stores is because, unlike women, they don't go to stores to browse and linger.
Rather they already know what they want. So they get it and go, instead of wandering around and looking to see what trinkets they can waste money one.
At least that's my experience.
Ken
http://www.kenStech.com
Ken,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere's the study.
http://emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=782BFF3268DE6A18F2FDE88D88F3634D?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkpdf&contentId=1816995&history=true
It only looked at who uses what type of info when they Don't know what they want.
YES I do agree with this one forsure. Men think that they can do everything and that if they ask someone for help that they dont feel like a man. My boyfriend is the same way and it drives me crazy. I mean come on men grow up and just ask it wont hurt you!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLuckily I dont have to try to ask because I use the FastMall iPhone application to get around my main shopping mall, mall of america. I can shake my iphone and find the bathroom location, then be taken to it word by word and it doesnt use GPS so its a technological marvel. I saw it featured on the MDA.org website - http://quest.mda.org/news/elevators-and-bathrooms-your-fingertips (one of my son has muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair bound). Now we dont have to make a "scene" for him its also like a video game because he can tap on the "elevators only" button and amazingly this iphone app recalculates the standard or fastest directions and tells us exactly how to get to the elevators only! This is the most helpful and enjoyable iphone application we have ever had as a family, its just so much fun and helpful for all of us. I cannot say enough about this handy app, must be experienced. This is the link to their website - http://www.FastMall.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThomas J.