Men Love Shopping for Gadgets

Men of a certain age and income are indulging in a new type of furtive pleasure that involves specialist magazines and select websites, and culminates in wads of cash changing hands. They may appear to be buying expensive electronic goods, but to the men in question the pleasure is derived almost entirely from the build-up to the purchase.

To test this theory, try this simple quiz: You need a new DVD player/music system/vacuum cleaner. Do you (a) Map out a three to six-month research strategy involving subscription to What DVD Player/music system/vacuum cleaner; surfing the internet shopping options, comparing prices and canvassing opinion among like-minded friends and colleagues or (b) Go into a shop, choose a model and buy it.

For the purpose of proving this sweeping generalisation, let us assume that most of those opting for (a) are men. This throws up a curious conundrum, as they are more than likely to be men in their twenties and thirties who are loathe to spend long periods in shops - research recently showed that men are genetically programmed to self-destruct if forced to spend more than 20 minutes shopping.

There is also that other sweeping generalisation about men, which is true in 99.9 per cent of cases - they would rather poke themselves in the eye with a pointy stick than ask for assistance or directions. This applies mainly in shops and cars.

Both these accepted stereotypes are thrown on their heads by the latest trend, which seems to have emerged purely through the many avenues now open to gadget-seekers to indulge their habit. After all, the gadgets have always been there in one form or another, but previously were attainable through the same old boring source, ie: shopping. Where?s the challenge there?

A friend recently confided that she had come very close to provoking her husband to leave the marital home when she committed a cardinal sin. The crime? She went out and bought a new mobile.

After months of frustration with a dodgy phone, she had popped into a shop, asked for the cheapest model, paid and departed. When she mentioned this later, her husband was in the old, "I don?t despise you, I pity you" frame of mind, with the gist of his argument being, "Where?s the enjoyment in that?", as he thought wistfully of the happy hours he could have spent poring over the ins and outs of various mobiles before making an informed choice.

This "knowledge is power" aspect of shopping is very important, apparently. Matthew Bingham, the regulars editor at FHM, explained the reason for this male trait.

"No man likes to be humiliated in a shop," he says. "Every shopping trip is a duel between you and a 16-year-old work-experience guy who thinks he knows more than you. By doing your research beforehand, you are effectively arming yourself for combat."


?No man likes to be humiliated in a shop. Every shopping trip is a duel between you and a 16-year-old work-experience guy who thinks he knows more than you?

But Bingham, who edits the magazine?s regular "Have It" section on what to buy, admits the trend for men to spend more time researching "appeals to their sense of trivia and data retention. It?s the modern equivalent of football cards."

To appeal to this endearing trait among its readership, FHM has just published its pre-Christmas Hardware Special, which lists 50 must-have electronic gizmos for chaps and leaves me none the wiser on the potential Christmas present front, as I am baffled at the outset by the explanation for the number one item.

This is a TS Biometrics FingerLock, which costs a cool £700 and is apparently for: "No more drunken fumbling for keys as you roll home in the small hours. Simply fall towards the biometric sensor, brushing your fingers over it as you lapse into unconsciousness, et voila! The door to your gaff swings open."

As invaluable as this may be in some quarters, it is an item sadly missing from the top five list of electrical best-sellers at the John Lewis store in Glasgow?s Buchanan Galleries, where the type of customer is maybe a tad more conventional than the average FHM reader.

Topping the list is a digital radio, followed by a coffee-maker, a bread maker (bad news for the Atkins camp), a blender and a vacuum cleaner. General manager Simon Russell rejects any stereotypical sexist differences when it comes to John Lewis customers and claims the types of customers are separated by money and time concerns rather than gender.

"We have customers who may have very little time but lots of money and some people who will take ages to buy something, coming in several times to talk about it before they actually buy. On the other hand you get people who just love shopping. But they are different types of people rather than different sexes.

He does admit that "there are probably more men than women on the electronics floor".

And age is no barrier when it comes to research, according to Russell. "A surprising number of pensioners are internet-friendly when it comes to research," he says. There?s one constant: however much people have swotted up beforehand, they still want to talk to a knowledgeable assistant before they make a major purchase.

The anomaly between that assertion and the FHM claim that to ask for advice is to lose face may be age-related rather than gender-related. But whatever the age of the gadget boy in question, Harrods has the answer. A quick browse of the London store?s website has the perfect solution for that tricky Christmas gift - a Sony 50-inch Plasma TV at £9,999.

Go on, you know he?s worth it.

Story source: scotsman.com.