In a survey conducted for Coupons.com, 59% of men said they redeem coupons when shopping, up from 51% last year. Another survey, by Harris Interactive, showed that 87% of male online shoppers (and 93% of women) had used coupons while buying groceries.
The explanations, however, are debatable, primarily because they confuse effect with cause.
Here's a typical analysis, from ConsumerAffairs.com.
You don't normally think of men sitting around clipping grocery coupons from the newspaper but a survey finds that men are nevertheless becoming not just savvy shoppers but also astute coupon collectors.
Maybe this isn't surprising, given the success of Groupon, LivingSocial and other daily deal sites but men's changing behavior isn't limited to the daily deal sites, according to the Coupons.com study, which also found men's use of all types of coupons on the rise.
"Men are changing their shopping behaviors as a result of many things, including that coupons are for so much more than groceries," said Jeanette Pavini, Coupons.com household savings expert. "They are not going through the newspaper clipping away, but instead finding alternative sources which include online, at sites such as Coupons.com, and mobile phone apps such as Grocery iQ."
Men, I maintain, have always been "savvy" shoppers. Not for groceries -- that wasn't their job. Instead, they bought the cars, the lawnmowers, the drill sets, the tires. They studied the ads, investigated the product and, unless forced to do otherwise by circumstances, bought low.
And if a coupon was involved, they clipped it and presented it, without hesitation. Stand around the pro shop of any golf course that has circulated a coupon offering a $10 discount on a round of golf. Every guy walking up to the counter is pulling that piece of paper out of his wallet.
So what is the real explanation for the increase?
Unemployment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June, 9.1% of American men over 20 who wanted to work were unemployed. The figure for women was 8%.
Dig a bit deeper and the numbers for adult men get worse. Points out Jon Stine in his blog for Cisco:
The unemployment rate for US 25-54 year olds without a high school diploma is nearly 35% -- up from around 10% in the 1960s. Of those with a high school diploma but no college, today's unemployment rate is almost 25% -- up from less than 5% in the 1960s.
Men are clipping coupons and doing the grocery shopping because when they are not working, they're home, and they're struggling financially.
That might not be true for a lot of gay men, but hell, who doesn't want to save money today.
I like to stash away these cash savings in what I call, A Play Fund. I use the savings to slurge every once in a while on a new jock. You'd be amazed how much you can save using coupons, including getting free or almost free stuff.
Body wash is a great example. For U.S. guys, just check out your Sunday paper for those coupon inserts from redplum and others.
You'll find coupons for various body washes from Nivea, Gillette, Suave and others.
If you go to a store such as CVS, RiteAid, Kmart, or a supermarket like Safeway that both doubles coupons to say a dollar, and has a loyalty card that you can download additional digital coupons for the same product, you can definitely make out like a bandit.
I bet some of these hot dudes are lathering up with free body wash. Why not join them?
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