For years, marketers have targeted females as the primary household shopper. But times have changed as a recent Wall Street Journal headline read: “Groceries Have Become a Guy Thing”.
It’s not always ladies first…at least at the grocery store. As this chart from the Hartman Group illustrates, more men are making visits to the grocery store, making them an important target audience.
Midan Marketing, who represents clients in the meat industry, released a “manfluence” consumer research study in 2013. Out of the 900 men surveyed, 49% said they enjoyed grocery shopping, while 58 percent were very conscious of what they spent on beef, pork and chicken.
So what’s driving this change?
Many experts state that it’s the Gen X and Millennial men who are not only budget savvy and take pride in being smart shoppers, but they also part of an emerging culture that is more than willing to take on shopping responsibilities with their working wives.
According to New York-based WSL Strategic Retail a recent research report on male shopping habits identifies millennial men as the most tech-savvy shoppers. In fact, 67 percent use their mobile phones to shop, followed by 52 percent of generation X’ers and 29 percent of boomers.
Other expert’s state that the recession has impacted this change as more men were laid off compared to woman which resulted in men taking on more of the cooking and shopping duties in the household.
How products are “manning” up
Sporting a newly designed black label, General Mills went on a nationwide summer tour to introduce its rebranded “Ultimate Hamburger Helper” product line to men. New flavors include cheddar broccoli, creamy stroganoff and three cheese marinara.
MMM Bacon! Is the recently developed man-candle introduced by Yankee Candles as part of a new line targeting men. Other manly scents include: Movie Night, First Down and of course the undeniable scent of Man Town.
Move over Jamie Lee Curtis as Pro Yo has created a male oriented Powerful Yogurt brand. “Find your inner abs” is the tag line on the all-black packaging design.
Don’t forget to consider the male perspective when developing new products and packaging. We’re interested in hearing back from the man-fluencers, feel free to comment regarding your latest manly supermarket finds.
Written by Heidi McIntyre
Managing Partner
Heidi@FullTiltMarketing.net
