Hunting and Gathering at the supermarket: Made more enjoyable and meaningful

The Shopping Question

Why do women enjoy shopping more than men do? We know men love to buy things, and spend money, but why is shopping considered something women enjoy doing more than men? I have a theory as to why this is.

Modern example of hunting by !Kung San
from southern Africa

For hundreds of thousands of years we have been hunters and gathers and between men and women there existed a specific division of labour. This division of labour was not based on some sexist notion but out of a practical one, based on the differences between men and women. Men did the majority of hunting while women did the majority of gathering. Small groups of men would spend hours and even days out on hunting parties, and women, along with their children, would spend their day gathering all of the edible plants, roots, tubers and other fruits around the base camp. Women also regularly hunted and captured small game, so they were not excluded from the savage act that only men were expected to perform.

The scenario during a hunt centered around a small group of men working together and quietly stalking an animal. The men would have developed many signs and “looks” to communicate covertly in order not to startle their prey. On their hunting trip men would bring small portions food to sustain them, or gather whatever foods they could find.  But on the whole they ate only when they were not stalking their prey.

Modern example of Yanomami women gathering 
food from the Amazon region in South America 

The situation with the women on the other hand was much different while gathering food, which was the main source of food for the average small and mobile communities. Small groups of women with their children would go out from the camp and gather the various foods. This was a more communal atmosphere where the women would be free to talk amongst themselves, without the fear of startling their prey. Over the course of the gathering they would taste and sample the produce as they moved in order to rate its quality and ripeness. Not all foods could be sampled and some foods needed preparation though peeling, crushing or cooking to become edible. Young children at various ages would accompany and participate in the collecting and be learning what was ready to pick and what was not.

This behaviour is mirrored in the activities of men and women today in the 21^st century. Women by their nature snack while cooking and taste (sample) foods at the grocery story, usually accompanied by their children. The usual scene of women together when cooking is constant chatting. The men on the other hand don’t exactly act as their hunting ancestors did, but there are times when men are together and say very little to each other, but can still have a deep acknowledgement from just a “look”.

Gathering in the modern age

I believe that the act of gathering is closer to the shopping experience where you browse or search through the shelves picking the right item that satisfies your immediate need. This could be why women enjoy shopping more than men do. Women have always done the majority of gathering relative to men and also for women shopping is a much more social activity with other women, unlike with men where men rarely shop with other men. This is not an absolute statement but it’s merely meant to point out the traditional ways in which men and women used to interact with the natural world. We don’t think of a shopping mall or supermarket as the natural world but these are the places where we get our resources, foods and supplies.

What does this mean for Marketing Research?

The shopping experience

The mother/child dynamic
with gathering has not changed
in thousands of years

As marketing researchers, the main point to come away with to understand that since men and women instinctively treat shopping differently retailers should not expect the same marketing techniques to work on both of them. Since women do the majority of shopping for a household, they are targeted more often and more intensively than men. Even in a supermarket, different strategies should be employed for men and women.

The solitary hunter

For example the power of free samples given in supermarkets (and at the LCBO) clearly work to sell more products and introduce customers to new products. I would suggest placing these tasting tables at locations where those products are regularly kept and not just at random locations around the store. Changing the location of products in stores does expose people to new products but also confuses them. I always considered this practise of moving products around a store just to increase sales and expose people to new products a cheap parlour trick (The LCBO regularly moves around groups of products within their stores). One thing that people don’t like is change. Where everything in their lives is in constant flux, people like to know they can rely on their local supermarket for the brands they enjoy using. Instead of changing products around a store, why not set-up a tasting booth of products you want to move and let people’s instinctive gathering tendencies re-surface.

"Where did I find those beans last time?"

People are also very vocal and if they recommend a product to family and friends the first question they are asked is “where can I find it?” This goes beyond just identifying a specific store, just like during our hunter-gatherer days, people want to know exactly over which hill and behind which bush to find those great ripe berries. People will rarely search all over a store for something if it's not where they expect to find it.

Cavemen went extinct long before the
supermarket arrived

In conclusion, are modern supermarkets maximizing the shopping experience? Or is there something more they can do?

Here is my suggestion. One important aspect of the shopping experience that is different from when our ancestors gathered for food is the lack of information. Groups of women would go gathering together and share information on all the different foods available. With the vast array of edible products in supermarkets, one idea is to employ roving "Product Specialists" throughout the store. These people can suggest recipes or answer questions regarding different foods to make recommendations. Suggestions such as different spices, side dishes and condiment pairings and get people to go to different parts of the store they would not normally go to. Since people visit their local supermarkets regularly these Product Specialists can also act as the front line interaction with the customer and build relationships over the long term.

The missing piece of the
gathering paradigm?

Due to the fact that everyone needs to eat, our supermarkets should not merely a be a commercial experience but should be places where people can explore culinary delights from around the world. If they enjoy their shopping experience, this is one way to encourage people to return and tell their friends and family, which for thousands of years has always been the best form of advertising.