Attitude Towards Shopping Among Gender A

IJMSS Vol.
05 Issue-07, (July, 2017) ISSN: 2321-1784

International Journal in Management and Social Science (Impact Factor- 6.178)
Attitude towards shopping among gender – an empirical study
K. Mohanasundaram1
Assistant Professor, Alliance University, Bangalore
Akanskha Dwivedi2 ,
Student- Great Lakes Institute of Management, Haryana
Manisha Singh3
Student- Great Lakes Institute of Management, Haryana
Abstract
Understanding the impact of gender’s attitude on shopping / purchase decision making has been
increasing in popularity and intensity at present. Men and women due to their different upbringing and
socialization along with various other social, biological and psychological factors illustrate different types
of behavior at various situations. Being the decision making in personal life or profession life, whether it
is about shopping or eating, both the genders are completely different at every state of decision making.
In this paper an attempt is made to study the attitude towards shopping among the gender. To reach
the goal of the study, a sample of 112 was selected from Delhi/NCR. A structured questionnaire was
administered to study their attitude on various factors and data were analyzed using percentage
analysis, chi square and ANOVA. The finding of the analysis indicated that there were indeed men tend
to be utilitarian shoppers and impulsive shoppers. Female expressed their love for shopping and men are
more brands loyal for cosmetics products. Unskilled, safety of payment and waiting are significant
factors to act as a barrier for online shopping.
Keywords: consumer behavior, attitude, gender, online shopping, offline shopping
Introduction
Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. It
attempts to understand the buyer decision making process and do or do not buy a product. It attempts
to understand the buyer decision making process and studies characteristics of individual consumers as
well as groups in an attempt to understand people’s want and needs. Consumer behavior research is the
scientific study of the processes consumers use to select, secure, use and dispose of products and
services that satisfy their needs. Knowledge of consumer behavior directly affects marketing strategy.
(Anderson et al, 2005).
Shopping motivation and the associated enjoyment thereof, has been a key area of research in
consumer shopping behaviour over the past few decades. Various researchers in this field explore, in
particular, the impact of demographic variables such as and gender on shopping behaviour.
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IJMSS Vol.05 Issue-07, (July, 2017) ISSN: 2321-1784
Despite the many avenues for non-store shopping, for example the Internet or catalogues, the vast
majority of shoppers find shopping a pleasurable experience when visiting brick-and-mortar stores.
There seems to be something universal about the love of shopping. For many consumers, however,
factors such as a lack of time, crowding, the distance to travel to the shop might have an influence on
their perceptions of shopping being a pleasurable experience.
Out of the many aspects that can influence a customer’s decision making behaviour, one of the major
factors is gender. Men and women approach shopping with different motives, perspectives, rationales
and considerations. Gaining an understanding of how these differences influence purchase decisions
and recognizing gender-specific tendencies (not stereotypes!) is important for any business that sells to
people – and wants to do so more effectively: Recent studies by researchers in this field include the
following factors which influence the shopping behaviour of any gender: socializing, bargain hunting,
entertainment, shopping for gratification, shopping for others, shopping for adventure, to browse or to
exercise, and shopping for sensory stimulation
Men generally perceive themselves as being competent shoppers, but many do not enjoy the
experience. Those who do enjoy shopping show brand consciousness and fashion trait associations, and
are not only prepared to spend time shopping, but also buy impulsively and without consideration of
how much they.
Report that young men are more involved in shopping, and many product categories, once seen as
female, for example, fashion magazines and skin-care, now have male products. They propose that more
research efforts should be directed towards male shoppers.
Women love shopping for a number of reasons: they take pride in their ability to shop; view the
shopping process as a leisure activity; generally, visit more shops per shopping trip than men; include
social interaction as an important part of the shopping experience; and shop to express their love for
families and other people.
Life situations can influence how much, or how little, men or women enjoy shopping. For example, some
women love shopping more when they are in a tighter financial position. The accomplishment is greater
when they get a good deal or when they have less money at hand. Therefore, it may be concluded that
male and female shoppers are motivated by different sources of shopping enjoyment.
Literature Review
Gender Differences in Shopping Motives:
Previous research has discussed two types of shopping motives: utilitarian and hedonic shopping.
Utilitarian shopping involves "some type of conscious pursuit of an intended consequence" and hedonic
shopping relates to intrinsic and emotional responses. In other words, these two shopping motives
reflect the distinction between shopping "to get something" as opposed to shopping because "you
love it"(Babin, B.J., Darden, W.R.,& Griffin, M., 1994). Men's motives for shopping appeared to be
more utilitarian, whereas women's shopping motives tend to be hedonic. For example, women are
more likely than men to use the shopping sites for enjoyment and information gathering rather than
purchasing (Wolin, L.D., &Korgaonkar, P., 2003). As far as the motives for catalogue shopping are
concerned, they are more merchandise or service related for male shoppers and more convenience
related for female shoppers (Eastlick, M.A., & Feinberg, R.A., 1994).
Gender Differences in Information Search:
Once a consumer recognizes the need for a certain product or service, information needs to be
gathered and processed to evaluate alternatives. Research shows that men and women differ
dramatically in their strategies for information processing. Specifically, females tend to be
comprehensive information processors in that they take into consideration both subjective and
objective information and they are more likely than men to elaborate on message cues. However,
males do not seem to favour objective information over subjective information(Darley, W.K., &
Smith., R.E., 1995). Unlike women who tend to process all available product information to assess
alternatives, men may resort to a heuristic strategy such as consulting a sales clerk or using a brand
name only rather than detailed product information to aid product evaluation (Laroche, M. , Saad, G.,
Cleveland M., & Browne, E., 2000).
Gender Differences in Response to Retail Stimuli and Response to Price Incentives:
First of all, men show greater propensity to bargain over the price of a product than women
do(Schneider, K.C., Rodgers, W.C.,& Bristow, D.N., 1999). The research also indicated that men are
more reluctant to use coupons than women in four purchase situations: ordering food delivery, eating
at nonfast food restaurants, dry cleaning and auto maintenance services. Although men are more likely
to use coupons when purchasing electronics or computer equipment (Harmon, S.K. & Hill, C.J., 2003),
women use more coupons than men when purchasing products such as laundry detergents.
Mazumdar, T.,&Papatla, P., (1995) have found that given the greater redemption of coupons among
female shoppers in general, men tend to pay a higher average price than women.
Response to Salesperson Influence:
Consumer susceptibility to salesperson influence is measured in three dimensions: informational

(meaning that salespeople are an important source of information); recommendation (meaning that
customers may be influenced by the suggestions and recommendations); and relational (meaning that
customers may feel the need to develop a relationship with a salesperson)(Goff, B.G., Bellenger, D.N.
&Stojack C., 1994).The results indicated that males are more susceptible to relational aspects of
influence from a salesperson.
Gender Differences in Purchase Behaviour:
Harmon, S.K.& Hill, C.J.,(2003) examined the gender differences in certain types of purchases. It was
seen, thatmen order more food deliveries than women, and they also make more purchases in certain
types of retail stores, such as electronics and computer stores. In addition to the findings that men
nowadays buy more casual wear for themselves than women do, research shows that men are more
likely to purchase products and services from the Web than women(Slyke, V., Comunale, C.L., &
Belanger, F., 2002; Wolin, L.D.,&Korgaonkar, P., 2003). Women and men were also compared
specifically on their shopping for gifts. It was found, women tend topurchase more gifts, spend more
time shopping and make more shopping trips (Fischer, E., & Arnold, S.J.,1990;Laroche, M. ,Saad, G.,
Cleveland M., & Browne, E., 2000).
Gender Differences in Shopping Satisfaction:
Men show a more positive attitude toward Internet shopping (Alreck, P.B.,& Settle, R.B., 2002), and
tend to have a more positive attitude toward Web advertising (Wolin, L.D., &Korgaonkar, P., 2003).
Whereas women seem to be more satisfied with their shopping experience overall.
Objective
The Primary objective is to study the attitude towards shopping among gender.
The secondary objectives are as follows:
 To study the impact of gender on the shopping attitude of consumers

 To identify the difference in male and female perception towards online and physical store
platforms and
 To compare the consumer psychologies of male and female towards shopping.
Hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Is there a relation between the gender and consumer’s attitude towards shopping.
Hypothesis 2: Is there a significant difference between the consumer’s gender and an effect on the
preference of commodity the consumer shops for.
Hypothesis 3: Is there a significant difference between the consumer’s gender and an impact on the
critical factors which affect decision making while shopping.
Hypothesis 4: Is there a significant difference between the consumer’s gender and effect on the brand
loyalty towards a commodity.
Hypothesis 5: Is there a relationship between consumer’s gender and barriers of online shopping.
Research methodology
The research design used in this study is descriptive. The research is based on primary data collection
approach. Based on extensive review of literature, in-depth personal interviews, questionnaire was
prepared. Pre test of the questionnaire was done using pilot study and removed the omissions and
corrections before administering from the sample. A survey using self administered questionnaire
carried out by using convenience sampling technique. Research was conducted taking consumers in and
around Delhi/ NCR. The same size for the study is 112. The nature of the respondents was drawn from
students, individuals in workplace and family. The tools used for the study are simple percentage
analysis, chi square and ANOVA using SPSS 17.0 . The reliability of the questionnaire has the value of
Cronbach’s alpha as 0.809.
Analysis and discussion
The socio economic profile of the respondents are discussed below
GENDER
The respondents were equally distributed as 50%. It is helpful for the study to be unbiased on the result.
Table 1 – distribution of respondents based on gender
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid MALE 56 50.0 50.0 50.0
FEMALE 56 50.0 50.0 100.0
Total 112 100.0 100.0
AGE
The age distributions of the respondent were ranges between 18 and 58. The average age is 25 with a
standard deviation of 5.362. It is positively skewed with 3.042.
Table-2 age distribution of the respondent
Number of respondents 112

Minimum 18
Maximum 58
Average 24.95
Standard error 0.507
Standard deviation 5.362
Skewness 3.042
Age Groups
12 10
10 9
8 88 8
8 7 7 7
6
6 4 4
4 3
2 2 2 22
2 1 111111 1 11111
0 Total
24
33
31
18
20
22
26
30
40
58
23
25
27
29
36
26 years
Female Male
According to the survey conducted the ratio between male and female is 50% and the age group for
Female is from 18-58 and Male is from 22-44. That shows the wide spread of age groups among male
and female.
MARITAL STATUS:
Table 3 : distribution of respondents based on marital status
Female Male
Married 8 3
Single 48 52
Widowed - 1
Out of 56 female respondent 48 respondents are single and 8 respondents are married whereas 52 male
are single and 3 are married.
Occupation:
Table 4: distribution of respondents based on occupation
Male Female
Employed 13 7
Homemaker 1 3
Self employed 5 4
Student 37 42
Among all the 112 respondents maximum are students in male and female, and second highest is
employed among male and female.
Analysis related to offline shopping: Frequency of visit to store and time spend on shopping were asked
to the respondent and the descriptive analysis of the same are discussed below
Table 5 : Distribution of respondents based on offline shopping
Description Male Female

Frequency % Frequency %
Visit to store
- Daily 7 12.5 3 5.4
- Fortnightly 12 21.4 7 12.5
- Monthly 10 17.9 13 23.2
- Weekly 16 28.6 17 30.4
- Occassionaly 9 16.0 11 19.6
- Never 2 3.6 5 8.9
Time spent in stores

- Less than 30 minutes 29 51.8 16 28.4
- 30 min – 1hour 21 37.4 24 42.8
- 1 hour – 2 hrs 4 7.2 8 14.4
- More than 2 hrs 0 0 4 7.2
- Not responded 2 3.6 4 7.2
In offline shopping, maximum female respondents 30.4% tend to shop weekly and for male respondents
it is about 28.6%. About 23.2% of female responded that they shop monthly and 21.4% of males
responded they shop fortnightly, showing the trend of male visiting the store is on slightly higher side
than females.
In offline shopping 42.8% of the female responded that they shop in “30 minutes to less than 1 hour” in
retail stores and 51.8% of male say they shop in “less than 30 minutes”. Very negligible (4 female and 2
male) responded that they don’t prefer offline shopping.
Analysis related to online shopping:
How often , how many websites and time spend on website in shopping were asked to the respondent.
The descriptive analysis of the same are discussed below.
Table 6 : Distribution of respondents based on online shopping
Description Male Female

Frequency % Frequency %
Shopping online
- Daily 2 3.6 - 0
- Fortnightly 12 21.4 6 10.7
- Monthly 17 30.4 11 19.7
- Weekly 6 10.7 11 19.7
- Occassionaly 15 26.7 21 37.5
- Never 4 7.2 7 12.4
Time spent on website
- Less than 15 min 5 8.9 6 10.7

- 15 min- 30 min 19 33.9 16 28.6
- 30 min – 45 min 17 30.4 15 26.6
- 45 min- 1 hr 7 12.4 8 14.4
- More than 1 hr 8 14.4 11 19.7
About 37.5% of female respondents that they shop occasionally and 19.7% of them will do shopping
online on weekly and monthly respectively. Whereas 30.4% of male respondents prefer monthly online
shopping and 21.4% of the respondent fortnightly and 26.7% occasionally.
Nearly 55.2% of the female respondents that shops online within 15 minutes to less than 45 minutes”.
And in male 64.3% of them respondent that they shop online between 15 minutes and less than 45
minutes
Clearly males spend lesser time while shopping online.
In order to test whether there is a relation between the gender and attitude towards shopping, cross
tabulation was constructed and testing using chi square
Hypothesis 1: Is there a relation between the gender and consumer’s attitude towards shopping.
Table 7: Gender v/s shopper’s preference Cross tabulation
DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A SHOPPER

IMPULSIVE I SHOP ONLY
HAPPY SHOPPER DURING
SHOPPER ENDS UP DISCOUNTS I DO ONLY
AND LOVE MORE THAN OR BEST TO GET IT I HATE
TO SHOP REQUIRED DEALS DONE SHOPPING Total
GENDER MALE 10 18 16 10 2 56
FEMALE 22 17 9 5 3 56
Total 32 35 25 15 5 112
Table 8 : Chi-Square Tests

Asymp. Sig. (2-
Value df sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 8.355a 4 .079
Likelihood Ratio 8.527 4 .074
Linear-by-Linear 4.493 1 .034
Association
N of Valid Cases 112
Since the p value ( 0.079) is greater than the level of significance (0.05), there is no relation between the
gender and attitude towards shopping.
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between the consumer’s gender and an effect on the
preference of commodity the consumer shops for.
Table 9 : ANOVA : Effect on the preference of commodity among gender

Sum of Squares Mean Square F Sig.
SHOP- GROCERIES Between .080 .080 .087 .768
Groups
Within Groups 101.339 .921
Total 101.420
SHOP- COSMETICS Between 16.509 16.509 27.824 .000*
Groups
Total 81.777
SHOP- BOOKS/CD Between .009 .009 .011 .918
Groups
Total 92.920
SHOP-APPARELS Between .723 .723 .974 .326
Groups
Total 82.420
SHOP- ELECTRONIC Between 26.036 26.036 37.350 .000*
GADGETS Groups

Total 102.714
SHOP- TOYS Between 1.286 1.286 1.747 .189
Groups

Total 82.250
SHOP- FURNITURES Between 1.750 1.750 2.182 .142
Groups

Total 89.964
In order to test the above hypothesis 2, ANOVA was carried out and the inferred that cosmetics and
electronic gadgets are significant at 5% level of significance.
Hypothesis 3: Is there a significant difference between the consumer’s gender and an impact on the
critical factors which affect decision making while shopping.
Table 10 : ANOVA : impact of critical factors while shopping of commodity among gender
CRITICAL FACTORS- BEST Between Groups 2.286 2.286 4.516 .036
PRICES Within Groups 55.679 .506
Total 57.964
CRITICAL FACTORS- Between Groups .571 .571 .660 .418
CONVENIENCE /TIME Within Groups 95.286 .866
Total 95.857
PRODUCT REVIEW Within Groups 83.107 .756
Total 83.679
VARIETY Within Groups 94.268 .857
Total 94.491
CRITICAL FACTORS- Between Groups 2.286 2.286 2.037 .156
REFERRAL Within Groups 123.429 1.122
Total 125.714
CRITICAL FACTORS- Between Groups 4.723 4.723 5.116 .026*
CUSTOMER SERVICE Within Groups 101.554 .923
Total 106.277
CRITICAL FACTORS- TRUST Between Groups .723 .723 1.128 .291
Total 71.277
In order to test the hypothesis 3, ANOVA was carried at 5% level of significance and inferred that except
customer service all other factors are insignificant.
Hypothesis 4: Is there a significant difference between the consumer’s gender and effect on the brand
loyalty towards a commodity.
Table 11 : ANOVA: effect of brand loyalty towards the commodity among gender
BRAND -GROCERIES Between Groups .036 .036 .034 .853
Within Groups 114.214 1.038
Total 114.250
BRAND -COSMETICS Between Groups 3.571 3.571 4.430 .038*
Total 92.250
BRAND -BOOKS/CD Between Groups 1.080 1.080 .956 .330
Total 125.420
BRAND -APPARELS Between Groups 2.580 2.580 2.401 .124
Total 120.777
BRAND -ELECTRONIC Between Groups 2.009 2.009 2.489 .117
GADGETS Within Groups 88.768 .807
Total 90.777
BRAND -TOYS Between Groups 1.750 1.750 1.867 .175
Total 104.857
BRAND -FURNITURES Between Groups 4.321 4.321 3.711 .057
Total 132.429
ANOVA was carried at 5% level of significance and infered that except cosmetics,other commodities are
insignificant towards brand loyalty among the consumer’s gender.
Hypothesis 5: Is there a relationship between consumer’s gender and barriers of online shopping.
In order to test whether there is any relationship between consumer’s gender and barriers of online
shopping, chi square test at 5% level of significance. It was infered that unskill, safety of payment and
delay in delivery time are significant.
Table 12 : Chi square test on barriers on online shopping versus gender
BARRIERS ON ONLINE Chi square value Asymp. Sig. (2- inference

SHOPPING sided)
Not skilful 9.022 0.029 significant
Safety of payment 12.282 0.006 significant
Waiting 8.505 0.037 significant
High shipping cost 6.191 0.103 In significant
Low trust level 4.939 0.176 In significant
Difficulty in return 6.130 0.105 In significant
/exchange
Not able to touch / feel 6.955 0.073 In significant
Findings
After obtaining secondary data through review of literature, primary data has been collected by means
of questionnaire and this data has been analysed above. Some of the findings were:
- Men tend to be utilitarian shoppers and impulsive shoppers, whereas women tend to be
hedonic shoppers and planned shoppers.
- Majority of female respondents clearly expressed their love for shopping while men showed an
impulsive behavior while shopping.
- Contrary to the belief that women love to shop during discounts, more men than women agreed
that they shop for discounts only.
- Contrary to conventional thought that men do not shop as much as women, therefore they may
not be as valuable consumers as their female counterparts, the study showed that there is no
significance difference between the two in terms of average shopping frequency. The only
difference is that on average men spend about a half hour less than women.
- Women tend to spend more on apparels then men do, thus re-enforcing the traditional beliefs.
- Men are more brands loyal while shopping for cosmetics than women. While women are more
brand loyal for electronic gadget than men are.
- Unskilled, safety of payment and waiting are significant factors to act as a barrier for online
shopping.
Recommendations
 To appeal to men, managers of shopping malls should include values, not only monetary but
also experiential, to enhance the shopping experience.
 Since men are utilitarian shoppers, men may not have a specific product in mind when they
enter the store. As a result, in-store product displays or on-site demonstrations or salespeople's
personal selling technique may become very important and key to persuading them.
 E-marketers should set up user friendly shopping systems which can help overcome the hurdles
and the barriers of accepting online shopping.
 They can use of customized virtual reality to stimulate positive attitude towards online
shopping.
Conclusion
Right from need recognition through the evaluation of alternatives to the post purchase behaviour, men
and women work differently with different types of stimuli and different parameters of evaluations.
Women seem to have pleasure while they shop whereas most of the men appear to be more disdain
towards it. Men's increased pressure to shop not only for their own goods and services, but also for the
needs of others within the household. The research study shows that there are similarities in men's and
women's shopping behavior but that there are also some differences. As women are increasingly part of
the workforce, men have increasingly contributed to the shopping needs of the household. Men's
increased pressure to shop not only for their own goods and services, but also for the needs of others
within the household.
REFERENCES:
1. Babin, B.J., Darden, W.R., and Griffin (1994). Work and/or Fun: Measuring Hedonic and Utilitarian
Shopping Value. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(4). 644-56.
2. Wolin, L.D., and Korgaonkar, P., (2003). Web Advertising: Gender Differences in Beliefs, Attitudes
and Behavior. Internet Research, 13(5), 375-85.
3. Eastlick, M.A., and Feinberg, R.A., (1994). Gender Differences in Mail-catalogue Patronage Motives,
Journal of Direct Marketing, 8(2), 15-22.
4. Darley, W.K., and Smith., R.E., (1995). Gender Differences in Information Processing Strategies: An
Empirical Test of the Selectivity Model in Advertising Response. Journal of Advertising, 24(1), 41-56.
5. Laroche, M. ,Saad, G., Cleveland M., and Browne, E., (2000). Gender Differences in Information
Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(6), 500-24.
6. Schneider, K.C., Rodgers, W.C., and Bristow, D.N., (1999).Bargaining Over the Price of a Product:
Delightful Anticipation or Abject Dread?. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 12(2/3),
166-79.
7. Harmon, S.K. and C.J. Hill, (2003). Gender and Coupon Use, The Journal of Product and Brand
Management, 12(4), 160-69.
8. Mazumdar, T., and Papatla, P., (1995). Gender Difference in Price and Promotion Response, Pricing
Strategy & Practice, 3(1), 21-33.
9. Goff, B.G., Bellenger, D.N. &Stojack C., (1994). Cues to Consumer Susceptibility to Salesperson
Influence: Implications for Adaptive Retail Selling, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management,
14(2), 25-39.
10. Slyke, V., Comunale, C.L., and Belanger, F., (2002). Gender Differences In Perceptions of Web-based
Shopping. Communications of Association For Computing Machinery, 45(8), 82-86.
11. Fischer, E., and Arnold, S.J., (1990). More than a Labor of Love: Gender Roles and Christmas Gift
Shopping. Journal of Consumer Research, 17(3), 333-45.
12. Alreck, P.B., and Settle, R.B., (2002). Gender Effects on Internet, Catalogue and Store Shopping, '
Journal QT Database Management, 9(2), 150-62.

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IJMSS Vol.

05 Issue-07, (July, 2017) ISSN: 2321-1784

Keywords: consumer behavior, attitude, gender, online shopping, offline shopping

Gender Differences in Shopping Motives:

Gender Differences in Information Search:

Gender Differences in Response to Retail Stimuli and Response to Price Incentives:

Response to Salesperson Influence:

Consumer susceptibility to salesperson influence is measured in three dimensions: informational

Gender Differences in Shopping Satisfaction:

The secondary objectives are as follows:

 To study the impact of gender on the shopping attitude of consumers

Analysis and discussion

The socio economic profile of the respondents are discussed below

Table-2 age distribution of the respondent

Number of respondents 112

Table 3 : distribution of respondents based on marital status

Table 4: distribution of respondents based on occupation

Table 5 : Distribution of respondents based on offline shopping

Description Male Female

Time spent in stores

Analysis related to online shopping:

Description Male Female

Time spent on website

- Less than 15 min 5 8.9 6 10.7

Clearly males spend lesser time while shopping online.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A SHOPPER

Table 8 : Chi-Square Tests

Table 9 : ANOVA : Effect on the preference of commodity among gender

Within Groups 76.679 .697

Within Groups 80.964 .736

Within Groups 88.214 .802

BARRIERS ON ONLINE Chi square value Asymp. Sig. (2- inference

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