With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, we thought we’d give a little attention to the oft-misunderstood shopping habits of dear ol’ Dad. New consumer research from intelligent media delivery firm Valassis finds that dads are just as interested as moms in saving money on purchases, and in some cases, their coupon zeal surpasses that of their female counterpart.
Parents are more alike than dissimilar when it comes to shopping for traditional consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories, according to the Valassis Coupon Intelligence Study. Dads and moms are more prone to use coupons while shopping with 96 percent of dads and 98 percent of moms doing so, compared to 90 percent of all adults. But when it comes to planning, dads appear to be a little more “last minute,” having a higher instance of planning what to buy on the way to the store. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t reach dads at home—for many, planning still begins there and coupons are the driver of decisions:
- 98 percent of dads prepare a shopping list prior to visiting a store and 96 percent say coupons influence that list
- 85 percent of dads plan to buy a product only if there is a coupon, compared to 71 percent of all adults
- 43 percent of dads increased their purchase of only products for which they have coupons vs. 23 percent of all adults
Dads look to a variety of sources for deals—including mobile savings apps and retailer, coupon and social networking websites. Opportunities to save help determine where they’ll shop, as 54 percent of dads say they’ve increased their shopping at retailers other than their main store due to better deals.
Once in the store, 89 percent of dads search for discounts via mobile devices and are definitely responsive to mobile influences, as 86 percent switch brands based on an in-store discount notification via their mobile device. In addition, dads are more likely than moms to share the great deals they find after making a purchase, with a majority of dads (86 percent) sharing post-purchase reviews compared to 73 percent of moms.
“Dads are readily influenced by coupons and other relevant discounts before, during and after their shopping journey,” said Curtis Tingle, chief marketing officer at Valassis, in a news release. “Marketers should take these findings into consideration as they seek to fully understand how dads shop, and then develop an omnichannel approach to reach and activate this savings-minded target audience.”
The Valassis Coupon Intelligence Study was fielded in the third quarter of 2016 in conjunction with a global, third-party market research firm with proficiency in internet surveys. The sample was derived from an online consumer opinion panel and all participants were at least 18 years of age and living in the contiguous United States. Consumers were emailed an invitation to participate in the survey and were given three days to complete it. The survey was closed once 1,000 completed responses had been reached.
