More men cleaning, ads need revising
Recent research from comScore suggests that gender stereotypes are alive and well in advertising, and they work.
However, research from Mintel Inspire called “Men Shopping Badly” shows that the next generation of men may not be so easily pigeon-holed and are becoming more “domesticated”.
“The assumption of men relying upon partners to shop – or even having partners in the first place – is in need of revision,” says Alexandra Smith, managing editor, Mintel Inspire. “Brands that have long assumed their target audience to be women may need to take a second look at who’s pushing the grocery cart.”
Mintel’s research reveals that today more men do most of the household cleaning than ever before. Whereas 17% were masters of the mop in 2006 that figure now sits at 31%.
And don’t for one minute think they’re all doing it begrudgingly. While not as likely to clean as women over half (55%) of men who do feel a sense of accomplishment, almost the same as women (62%).
“Retailers either haven’t tried, or haven’t figured out how to communicate with men – who like to clean as much as women do,” says David Lockwood, senior analyst at Mintel.
“These facts reveal that men remain an underexploited household cleaning target and the barriers to men’s increased involvement in household cleaning are not great.”
Brands looking to hook in both men and women to a cleaning product should consider their target audience’s need for speed. Mintel found that 42% of both sexes would pay extra for a cleaning product that makes cleaning faster.
