title: Profiling the Male Grocery Shopper: An Investigation into the Growth and Behaviour of Australian Male Grocery Shoppers
Creators: name: Mortimer, Gary Steven
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: grocery shopping
subject: gender roles
subject: supermarket shopping
subject: shopping behaviour
subject: Australia
subject: male grocery shopper
subject: male shopper
subject: societal customs
subject: consumer behaviour

description: Grocery shopping has long been considered to be the responsibility of the female spouse. However, modern social and demographic movements are causing changes to traditional gender roles within the home. As a result men are engaging in supermarket shopping more frequently. International research has suggested over thirty percent of men claim to be primarily responsible for the weekly grocery shopping task. However, while grocery shopping by men is on the rise, the behaviour and demography of male shoppers remain under researched. This thesis argues that men engage in supermarket shopping more purposely as a result of social changes, such as, improved education levels, female labour force participation rates and changing social mores that have significantly affected gender roles within contemporary Australian families. This thesis is important as it presents the first comprehensive investigation into the shopping behaviour and demography of men within Australian supermarkets. Building on previous studies and anecdotal evidence leads to a validation of links between contemporary societal factors and the propensity for men to undertake grocery shopping, contrast behavioural differences between male and female supermarket shoppers and finally identify specific cohorts of male shoppers. Research outcomes offer practical and theoretical contributions to consumer behaviour literature and practical Australian supermarket retailing. A mixed methods approach was the overarching research methodology engaged for this study. In determining what dominant societal factors influence men to undertake grocery shopping and to support the construction of a quantitative questionnaire survey, interviews were conducted with men while they shopped. A descriptive, cross sectional quantitative methodology was then adopted in order to investigate actual male shopping behaviour in comparison to female shopping behaviour in the supermarket. A K-means clustering technique was employed to determined specific cohorts of male grocery shopper types. The 140 sets of male shopper data were factor analysed into eight discrete constructs. These cases were confirmed as appropriate and sufficient by KMO values and Bartlett’s significance scores. The significance of this research resides in the identification and development of five distinct male grocery shopper cohorts enabled through this cluster analysis technique. Results of qualitative analysis supported the five research questions relating to the identification of key societal factors which are encouraging men to undertake the grocery shopping activity. It was found that, female labour participation rates and feminist ideology were driving factors influencing the male respondent’s decision to assume the grocery shopping. These men described themselves and their partners as middle class and having improved levels of education. They further confirmed their households supported the egalitarian division of household labour. It is contended that these five key social factors are increasing the frequency of men in supermarkets. Quantitative analysis was able to fully support fifteen of the eighteen hypotheses developed to examine how men differ behaviourally from women when shopping for groceries. The hypotheses relating to influences of age on male list usage (H2), product evaluative criteria (H7) and enjoyment (H18) were rejected. Hypothesis 13, relating to the importance of supermarket store characteristics, was only partially supported. To conclude, this research has found that as a result of changing societal customs and contemporary gender roles, more Australian men are patronising supermarkets on a regular basis. It was further identified that the shopping behaviour of these men differs greatly to that of the traditional female grocery shopper. The analysis identified five distinct, yet interrelated clusters. Anecdotally, it is often suggested that men do not like to shop, lacked interest in the activity and only undertook the task under duress from their partners. However, this classic version of the male grocery shopper was not specifically identified in any cluster. Other identified shopping characteristics in men suggest a real interest and control over the activity. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation into the growth and behaviour of male grocery shoppers in Australia. The thesis has assisted in expanding the knowledge and theory of consumer behaviour in the context of low involvement, limited decision making provisioning. The research has implications for sociology, gender studies and consumer behaviour disciplines. It also has commercial implications for food retail management. Finally, it is proposed that this thesis will provide a vehicle for future research in the areas of food retailing and consumer behaviour.