Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S1E02 - Men Are From Sears, Women Are From Bloomingdale's

Episode Date: January 17, 2012

This episode examines the different ways in which men and women shop. Deep in our DNA, our shopping habits have been formed and the differences between the genders couldn't be more stark. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. We'll see you next time. new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. From the Under the Influence digital box set, this episode is from Season 1, 2012.

You're so king in it. You're going to love it in an instant. Your teeth look whiter than no, no, no. You're not you when you're hungry. You're in good hands with all things. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. He grabs Kirk by the neck like that, see? They began as a vaudeville act in 1925 called Ted Healy and His Three Lost Souls.

Then, in 1930, they made their first Hollywood movie called Soup to Nuts. It wasn't a critical success, but it eventually led to a movie contract with Columbia Pictures in 1934 minus Ted Healy. The three lost souls then found themselves and changed their name to the Three Stooges. I'm no mule. No, your ears are too shortes. I'm no mule. No, your ears are too short. So I'm a mule.

Their eye-poking, nose-twisting, head-slapping comedy has been hailed as innovative, gut-busting, and evergreen. A writer recently said of them, The Three Stooges are the most honest reflection of modern 21st century man we have. Ultra-violent, terminally dumb, staggeringly incompetent, cowardly deferential, and yet, for all of that, never stationary, never satisfied, and possessed of a seemingly unbreakable

internal bond. The Three Stooges also have another gift. They repel women. I stuck my head in the office door. Ech! About 100 years before the Stooges crashed Hollywood, a book was written by Jane Austen. It was called Sense and Sensibility. Austen published it in 1811, and on the cover it simply said, written by a lady.

A movie of the novel was made in 1995, adapted by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee. Sense and Sensibility has many themes, but chief among them was Romanticism vs. Realism. The romantic characters focused on excess, emotions, indulgence, and a lack of reserve.

The realists focused on common sense, propriety, selflessness, and rationality. Which proved happiest was Jane Austen's quest. Can he love her? Can the soul really be satisfied with such polite affections? To love is to burn, to be on fire like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise. They made rather pathetic ends, dear.

Pathetic? To die for love? How can you say so? What could be more glorious? I think that may be taking your romantic sensibilities a little far. The film is notable for being nominated for six Academy Awards, for winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, and for repelling men. Sir, I cannot even begin to thank you. Yes.

First and ten in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. The divide between the sexes on this issue is well documented and seemingly entrenched. The Three Stooges made nearly 200 short films that have run continuously for almost 80 years. Yet, most women stare blankly. The reason I don't find The Three Stooges funny is because they aren't funny Jane Austen novels and the period films they inspired are arguably some of the most delicate and finely nuanced explorations of romantic love and relationships ever captured on film yet men just stare blankly I'd rather chew tinfoil this great divide has many other manifestations too.

And it definitely has a soulmate in the world of marketing. The way men and women shop is a textbook study in the gender gap. What women look for in a store and what men want are about as far apart as, well, sense and sensibility and Larry and Mo. From the way they treat salespeople, to the way they walk through a store, to the amount of time they spend shopping, to something as small as the way they park their cars, the examination of how men and women shop is a revealing study of human nature. You're under the influence. There is an age-old theory regarding the differences between men and women. That men are hunters and women are gatherers,

suggesting the way we behave is largely dictated by evolutionary factors. While the hunter-gatherer thesis has become a cliché, every cliché is rooted in truisms. For example,

cavemen were in charge of securing meat for the tribe. So they would decide in advance what animal they wanted to kill, make a plan, track it down, and kill it. Men see better than women in bright light. They see a narrower field, almost a mild tunnel vision, but as a result can see over a great distance, helping them spot prey.

They also had to bring the meat home quickly so it wouldn't spoil. A clinical mission, in and out. Women, on the other hand, were in charge of gathering nuts, berries, and fruit. They learned to scan and graze large areas, looking for the best quality food. Choosing the right nuts and berries was critically important, because the wrong plants could be poisonous. So, women had to take their time assessing quality, texture, color, and smell for safety. Women also developed a keen sense of when certain foods were in season, when

to harvest. They are also nest protectors, therefore have a greater sense of peripheral vision than men, in order to monitor for predators. Now, let's look at all those traits through the prism of shopping. For the majority of men, shopping is a mission. The act is task-oriented. Men know what they want, and they want to find that item quickly, pay for it, and leave the store. Men want quick answers and are twice as likely to be last-minute shoppers.

The majority of women, on the other hand, require more details before making a purchase. They want to know how a product will fit into their lives now, as well as a month or a year down the line. Women tend to meander when shopping. They'll stop to look at shoes, even though they're shopping for tops. They'll look at sales merchandise. They'll stop by the perfume counter for a spritz.

Because their peripheral vision is better than men's, they scan and graze constantly. Sound familiar? Shocking as it may sound, science tells us that men's brains are about 10% bigger than women's. Woohoo! I am the smart. I am the smart. Not so fast, Homer. Men aren't smarter.

Both sexes have the same amount of brain cells. According to Science Daily, evolution has created two different types of brains designed for equally intelligent behavior. Men have 6.5 times the amount of gray matter. That helps them with logic and numbers, straightforward information processing tasks. Women have 10 times the amount of white matter, which helps them construct quick pathways

between different parts of the brain, creating connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information, helping them see the big picture. As writer Kelly Kotz points out, just listen to the way women speak. Their conversations

scatter all over the map in an endless web of opinions, situations, and feelings. When my wife gets together with her girlfriends, I notice they all speak over one another, all going in different directions, yet all perfectly in tune with each other's conversations. Us men talk one subject at a time, discussing facts and moving toward one single solution or summation.

Interruption is seen as aggression. That abundance of white matter makes it easy for women to analyze a myriad of variables, like cost, sale prices, brand, customer service, and what their experience has been in the past with that store or product. They will ask friends for advice. They consider the story behind the product and make sure it aligns with their values. And they enjoy it all, a trait that reveals itself early in females. Girls become interested in shopping at a much younger age than boys. 81% of girls aged 16 to 19 feel shopping is an enjoyable day out,

compared with less than 45% of boys. As they grow up, shopping is not a small part of women's lives. A recent UK study revealed a staggering statistic. Women will spend more than 8 years of their lives shopping. Astounding. Including over 25,184 hours and 53 minutes just keeping her family fed and clothed over a period of 63 years. Research done by GE Money revealed that women make 301 shopping trips a year, lasting a total of almost 400 hours.

And here's where it gets interesting. 90 of those trips were for keeping up their appearances. 30 trips for clothing, 15 for shoes, 18 for accessories, and 27 trips for toiletries. Women also go window shopping 51 times per year, spending nearly 50 hours just perusing. Men? Zero. Nearly 30% of all women regard shopping as an activity to cheer them up. I don't know one man who feels that way. Except Keith. Yeah, right. Last year, Target did a series of very funny commercials

that showed a woman obsessively preparing and actually getting in shape to shop for a Black Friday sale. The campaign idea was based on shopping tips. This one was, tip number four, use a utility belt. Today's tip, utilize the utility belt. Hand sanitizer, extra tote bags, light snack, caffeine, poncho, hydration, cough drops, flashlight, lip gloss, calming aromatherapy. So important.

I even have a polycarbonate microfolding lawn chair. Don't touch the bow. Don't. One of the major gaps between men and women can be seen in the following statistics. The number one complaint women have about shopping is, quote, One of the major gaps between men and women can be seen in the following statistics. The number one complaint women have about shopping is, quote, lack of help when needed. For men, the number one complaint about shopping is, quote,

difficulty finding a parking spot close to the store's main entrance. That's a big difference. While there are exceptions, of course, the majority of women have powerful feelings about interaction with sales associates. For women, store loyalty is related to the salesperson's familiarity with the product range, that salesperson's ability to determine what products are most suited to her,

and whether the salesperson makes them feel important or not. Women like eye contact with salespeople, as well as support and collaboration. They are acutely adept at picking up nuances from tones and facial expressions. As writer Bridget Brennan points out, women are so good at this because they take care of the biggest non-verbal constituency in the world. Babies. Men, on the other hand, says writer Kelly Kotz, treat salespeople like ATM machines.

All men want to know is where the item is, is it in stock, and how long is the line at the cash register. Only 37% of men ask for help versus 75% of women. Therefore, guess which gender uses self-checkouts more often. Correct.

Men seldom compare prices, don't particularly care when items go on sale. That's why they tend to spend 10% more on comparable items than women do. Women are acutely aware of price. This very funny IKEA TV ad plays into that insight. It begins with a woman at an IKEA checkout. Here's your receipt.

Have a nice day. Thank you. She glances at her receipt, thinks the cashier has made a mistake, and makes a beeline for the door, yelling, Start the car! Where is hubby? Reading the paper in the car.

Then we see them driving off, the wife thinking she got the bargain of the century. But as we discover, it wasn't a mistake. It's the IKEA 50% Off Winter Sale. And we'll be right back. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We'll see you next time. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca.

If you're enjoying this episode, why not dip into our archives? Available wherever you download your pods. Go to terryoreilly.ca for a master episode list. Attention shoppers, there's a red tag sale on men's underwear on the third floor. Men almost always shop alone. Men don't really want another man's opinion. Those pants look good on you, Terry. Really narrows your hips. You don't often hear that in stores. However, research shows that men spend up to 56% more if shopping with a male friend.

The reason is that men like to demonstrate dominance, and reaching for the more expensive item suggests power. That should be a clue to stores to incentivize men to bring a friend along. It's also a clue to men to shop alone. But apparently men have already figured that out. Women, on the other hand, spent 4% less when shopping with girlfriends. Men make decisions for themselves. Women look out for the group.

Here's an interesting fact about my gender. Men will spend more if an attractive saleswoman touches us on the arm. Hi, can I help you? Yep, pathetic I know, but true. In his book, What Women Want, author Paco Underhill notes that retailers employ many of these subtle influences when you enter a store. Sephora, for example, which sells makeup, skincare, and bath products, puts customers and cashiers on the same side of the desk.

So, there is a greater degree of connection, with not even a cash register coming between them. Another thing I find fascinating about Sephora is that the salespeople are trained to casually watch their customers. So, when those customers are looking at a product and turn their head sideways, it's a cue for the salesperson to step in and help. The sideways turn of the head tells a salesperson

that a question has popped into the customer's mind. Aveda is another retailer that sells body care items with a very spa-like in-store experience. When you walk into their stores, you are immediately offered tea, giving the salesperson an opportunity to have a conversation with you. Both Aveda and Sephora salespeople are all trained to touch their customers. Uh-oh. Danger, men. Repeat. Danger. Yep. Touching immediately forms a relationship and provides another chance to start a conversation. And that makes people, men, spend more.

As Estee Lauder once said decades ago, If I can get a woman to give me her hand, she's mine. It's a subtle form of influence, but very effective. Traditionally, male stores have also become much more welcoming to women lately. For example, both the Home Depot and Canadian Tire have dramatically changed their layouts. Now, when you walk into these big box stores, you see painting and decorating products, seasonal items and major appliances near the front doors. Gone are the days when tires and power tools were the welcome wagon.

Those same stores also learned that women buy projects, men buy products. So, to influence shopping decisions, stores now decorate entire showrooms to demonstrate to women how paint colors work with countertops, that work with cabinets, that work with appliances, that work with the flooring. The tools section just features

well tools here's another truism when it comes to shopping if a man goes into a change room he's buying now it's just a matter of size but if a woman goes into a change room even with an armful of outfits there's a big chance she'll want to try them all on show her girlfriends get feedback and buy nothing women also need a place for men to park this is one of my big gripes with stores for women when I shop with my wife there's nowhere for me to wait. But smart retailers have a husband's section, complete with easy chairs, men's reading material, and treats. If women know their man is taken care of, they will shop longer.

Shopping guru Paco Underhill also notes an interesting trend that is sweeping across Holland these days. Female-friendly parking lots. Rather than white parallel lines painted in sequence like we have here, designers have created parking spaces that are rectangular boxes. Research there has shown that females are more comfortable positioning their cars over a square rather than within two floating lines. Men, owing to their biology and the joy of aiming and hitting a mark, are more at ease navigating their vehicles between a target. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered.

Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at

onepeloton.ca. When I buy a new product, I love nothing more than to sit down with a coffee and read an entire instruction manual. Ah. Women want a product to work right out of the box, whereas men like to tinker with them. As Bridget Brennan says, it may be one of the few areas where men are more interested in foreplay than women. Oh, my sweet baby, you mean everything to me.

Barry White could have had a very lucrative career in advertising. Researchers in Britain have found that women not only notice men with deeper voices, but they pay more attention to what they say it seems a woman's memory is sensitive to men's voice pitch which is another significant evolutionary factor from caveman days a deep voice can influence the choice of mate because it can hint at testosterone levels and genetic quality in two experiments researchers showed 91 women images of objects and had them listen as male and female voices described them.

In both cases, women showed a strong preference for the low-pitched male voice, remembering more facts that he had described. Who would have thought that a deep male voice would have that kind of an effect on women? Oh baby. Gents, if you're over 45, take a look at your hair, if you've still got some. See any gray there? Men's hair coloring products have exploded in the last few years. Boomers who grew up opposing authority hate to go gray because it's a sign they are becoming the authority figures.

Between 2008 and 2010, there was a 50% increase in the number of men visiting hair salons to receive a dye job, according to research commissioned by L'Oreal. Women have dyed their hair for decades. Now it's men's turn. Women have also been wearing Spanx for years. And now it's men's turn for that too, with a new product called Ecumen Compression Clothing,

underwear that will squeeze two inches off your belly without ever having to go to the gym. Then there's the online world. What doesn't change is the fact that women are enticed by lifestyle, men by products. Women spend a whopping 20% more time browsing online than men. But that shouldn't be surprising. Browsing is like window shopping, and that is a distinct female pastime.

With the exception of computers, electronics, and outdoor equipment, women outspend men in every major retail category online. In North America, women account for 58% of the online dollars spent. But it's interesting to note that women have a ceiling on what they will spend on a single item. Men, on average, will spend a maximum of $1,751, where women top out at $787. Men dig online, meaning they really dig for information.

A lot of research, a lot of comparison shopping, and they read a lot of reviews. Again, a very focused mission. Women like to scan product information and move on, many times leaving multiple browser windows open, leaving items in online shopping carts for long periods of time, and they prefer to see many items on screen layouts. But when it's all said and done,

you just can't fight evolution. Men still hate parking lots, hate waiting in checkout lines, hate not being able to find the one item they came shopping for. Therefore, online shopping is a godsend. Men feel empowered because the online experience is like a game.

They feel in control and, above all, efficient. In a recent focus group, one quote was, I would rather have root canal than go shopping. But when asked about online shopping, the quote was, I love this.

Could it be that men may finally come around to shopping after all? Those pants look good on you, Terry. Really narrows your hips. Thanks, Steve. It's my compression underwear. Men are from Sears.

Women are from Bloomingdale's. No question about it. Evolutionists saw to it that there is a gender gap. Some call it a gender canyon. Yet, the propagation of the species obviously requires two completely different mindsets. Gender is more powerful than age, income, and race. It even transcends geography. Because you know, right now, somewhere in Russia,

a woman is trying on several outfits in a change room, while her husband is killing time sitting on a hard chair somewhere in the middle of the mall. Gender dictates our desires, our decisions, our annoyances, and even how we park our cars. And nobody studies those differences more closely than marketers. In fact, because women buy over 80% of all goods and services and spend over $4.4 trillion every year doing it, most retailers have built a world that caters almost exclusively to females, which may explain why men feel so antsy when shopping. built a world that caters almost exclusively to females. Which may explain why men feel so antsy when shopping. But when you take evolution into consideration,

when you account for biology, and when you analyze those differences, it really does demystify our behavior. And you realize there is a reason why women graze, why men shop with tactical military efficiency, and why salespeople touch you on the arm when you're under

the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. Terry, it's your mother. I just listened to Under the Influence. First of all, I love the new theme song. But I have a complaint about one thing. I haven't spent eight years of my life shopping. That's preposterous.

Goodbye, dear. Terry, it's your father. I enjoyed the show today. But I think you should check your math about your mother spending eight years of her life shopping. Because it's more like 12.