Who buys what at the supermarket?
Feel free to download this sample term paper to view our writing style, or use it as a template for your own paper. If you need help writing your assignment, click here!
| Assignment Type | Term Paper |
|---|---|
| Subject | English (composition, Etc.) |
| Academic Level | Undergraduate |
| Citation Style | N/A |
| Length | 3 pages |
| Word Count | 946 |
Need Some Help Writing your Paper?
We offer custom written papers starting at $32 / page. Your will get a completely custom-written paper tailored to your instructions, with zero chance of plagiarism.
Document Preview:
WHO BUYS WHAT AT THE SUPERMARKET?
After spending about three hours at a local supermarket, I came to the conclusion that people do indeed purchase certain types of food products based mostly on sex (male and female) and age. Overall, women tend to buy more food products at the supermarket than men, and it appears that older women tend to buy less expensive types of food, possibly because of being on a fixed income as compared to younger women who tend to have good paying jobs and are more often than not the head of their households.
With the help of a recent article called "What America Buys at the Supermarket," Americans spent more than $300 billion at supermarkets in 2009 with food products in more than 299 categories. Amazingly, the amount of money spent at America's supermarkets for food products accounts for about half of all spending in the United States, far more than what is spent on automobiles, housing, clothes, and luxury items ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010).
During my observations at the supermarket, I noticed one thing right away that men, regardless of age, tended to buy more TV dinners than women. The reason for this appears to be related to the fact that most men do not like to cook or are just too lazy to fix a healthy meal at home. For example, I observed a man about fifty years of age buy about a dozen TV dinners. He did not even take the time to choose what types of dinners to buy; he just scooped up the dinners and put them in his shopping cart. However, after looking at what types of TV dinners are available for purchase, it seems that turkey and chicken are the most popular.
Also, as mentioned in the article, the number one item purchased by both men and women is carbonated beverages like Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew, spending almost $12 billion annually on these products ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010). There does not appear to be any difference when it comes to age, but women seem to buy the most carbonated beverages, especially if they have children with them. Also, I noticed that most of the women who buy carbonated beverages tended to be overweight, a possible sign that America's on-going problem with obesity is very real.
Not surprisingly, the next food product just behind carbonated beverages is snack products like cookies, crackers, donuts, candy, and potato chips. With these products, there also seems to be no difference when it comes to sex and age; however, like carbonated beverages, overweight women bought more of these products than women of normal weight. I also noticed that young people, both male and female, tended to buy snack products in bulk.
The next product bought more often by men than women is alcoholic beverages, especially beer and wine. As pointed out in the article, Americans spend more than $8 billion a year on beer alone, with wine in second place at about $5 billion ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010). This is not really that surprising because men tend to drink much more beer than women. I also noticed that American-made beer was bought the most with foreign beers at the very bottom. For example, I observed several men about thirty years of age fill up a shopping cart with Budweiser, but only saw one man about forty years of age buy a foreign-made beer. Exactly what this means is not clear, but it appears that most men have no taste for foreign-made beers, possibly because of peer pressure or the cost of American-made beers being generally less than foreign-made beers.
Another product that I observed being purchased in bulk was dog and cat food. With this product, there also appears to be no difference when it comes to age and sex; however, women seem to buy more dog and cat food than men. Amazingly, Americans spend more than $5 billion a year on dog and cat food, no doubt because of the growing popularity of pets. Also, the people who bought dog food tended to purchase bigger bags and seemed to prefer the old brands like Dog Chow and Purina.
After finishing my observations, I got in the checkout line and jotted down some notes related to the wide variety of tabloid newspapers and magazines found lining both sides of the checkout line. Not surprisingly, women tended to pick up issues of these publications more often than men, especially if the covers have photos of popular celebrities facing a whole range of personal problems. I noticed one woman about forty years of age buy two different tabloids, but only saw one man about fifty years of age pick up an issue and glance through it. Obviously, these tabloids appeal more to women because they tend to love gossip about celebrities down on their luck.
As a sure sign of the times, I observed few people shopping for healthy foods like green vegetables and fruit, but when these products were purchased, women tended to buy them more often than men. The women I did observe buying vegetables and fruit were young, perhaps under thirty years of age, which may indicate that young women are more concerned with their physical appearance and overall health. However, when men did purchase these items, they tended to buy fruit instead of vegetables, especially bananas and oranges. Overall, despite all of the warnings, Americans still buy unhealthy foods and consume far too much carbonated beverages and alcoholic products, a sign that maybe all of the warnings are being ignored.
REFERENCES
"What America Buys at the Supermarket." (August 18, 2010). Retrieved from
http://www.cornichon.org/2010/08/what-america-bu.html.
Word Count: 938
After spending about three hours at a local supermarket, I came to the conclusion that people do indeed purchase certain types of food products based mostly on sex (male and female) and age. Overall, women tend to buy more food products at the supermarket than men, and it appears that older women tend to buy less expensive types of food, possibly because of being on a fixed income as compared to younger women who tend to have good paying jobs and are more often than not the head of their households.
With the help of a recent article called "What America Buys at the Supermarket," Americans spent more than $300 billion at supermarkets in 2009 with food products in more than 299 categories. Amazingly, the amount of money spent at America's supermarkets for food products accounts for about half of all spending in the United States, far more than what is spent on automobiles, housing, clothes, and luxury items ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010).
During my observations at the supermarket, I noticed one thing right away that men, regardless of age, tended to buy more TV dinners than women. The reason for this appears to be related to the fact that most men do not like to cook or are just too lazy to fix a healthy meal at home. For example, I observed a man about fifty years of age buy about a dozen TV dinners. He did not even take the time to choose what types of dinners to buy; he just scooped up the dinners and put them in his shopping cart. However, after looking at what types of TV dinners are available for purchase, it seems that turkey and chicken are the most popular.
Also, as mentioned in the article, the number one item purchased by both men and women is carbonated beverages like Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew, spending almost $12 billion annually on these products ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010). There does not appear to be any difference when it comes to age, but women seem to buy the most carbonated beverages, especially if they have children with them. Also, I noticed that most of the women who buy carbonated beverages tended to be overweight, a possible sign that America's on-going problem with obesity is very real.
Not surprisingly, the next food product just behind carbonated beverages is snack products like cookies, crackers, donuts, candy, and potato chips. With these products, there also seems to be no difference when it comes to sex and age; however, like carbonated beverages, overweight women bought more of these products than women of normal weight. I also noticed that young people, both male and female, tended to buy snack products in bulk.
The next product bought more often by men than women is alcoholic beverages, especially beer and wine. As pointed out in the article, Americans spend more than $8 billion a year on beer alone, with wine in second place at about $5 billion ("What America Buys at the Supermarket," 2010). This is not really that surprising because men tend to drink much more beer than women. I also noticed that American-made beer was bought the most with foreign beers at the very bottom. For example, I observed several men about thirty years of age fill up a shopping cart with Budweiser, but only saw one man about forty years of age buy a foreign-made beer. Exactly what this means is not clear, but it appears that most men have no taste for foreign-made beers, possibly because of peer pressure or the cost of American-made beers being generally less than foreign-made beers.
Another product that I observed being purchased in bulk was dog and cat food. With this product, there also appears to be no difference when it comes to age and sex; however, women seem to buy more dog and cat food than men. Amazingly, Americans spend more than $5 billion a year on dog and cat food, no doubt because of the growing popularity of pets. Also, the people who bought dog food tended to purchase bigger bags and seemed to prefer the old brands like Dog Chow and Purina.
After finishing my observations, I got in the checkout line and jotted down some notes related to the wide variety of tabloid newspapers and magazines found lining both sides of the checkout line. Not surprisingly, women tended to pick up issues of these publications more often than men, especially if the covers have photos of popular celebrities facing a whole range of personal problems. I noticed one woman about forty years of age buy two different tabloids, but only saw one man about fifty years of age pick up an issue and glance through it. Obviously, these tabloids appeal more to women because they tend to love gossip about celebrities down on their luck.
As a sure sign of the times, I observed few people shopping for healthy foods like green vegetables and fruit, but when these products were purchased, women tended to buy them more often than men. The women I did observe buying vegetables and fruit were young, perhaps under thirty years of age, which may indicate that young women are more concerned with their physical appearance and overall health. However, when men did purchase these items, they tended to buy fruit instead of vegetables, especially bananas and oranges. Overall, despite all of the warnings, Americans still buy unhealthy foods and consume far too much carbonated beverages and alcoholic products, a sign that maybe all of the warnings are being ignored.
REFERENCES
"What America Buys at the Supermarket." (August 18, 2010). Retrieved from
http://www.cornichon.org/2010/08/what-america-bu.html.
Word Count: 938