In an airport environment, a man travelling on his own becomes a true shopper: He is more autonomous; he takes responsibility for his own shopping and buys more easily.

These are the results of the first ethnographic study about men’s buying behavior in Parisian airports. The 50 million men who travelled through these airports - 63 percent of total passengers—in 2005 spent an average 43 euros in the boutiques. This represents a 30 percent higher spend than women.

The observation of behavioral patterns in retail areas shows that most men when alone at the airport go through a methodical and quite thorough shopping tour—contradicting their urban shopping habits. Many men stop at almost every window and enter in several boutiques.

Regarding buying motivations, the strong proportion of male airport shoppers purchase for themselves—66 percent, against 25 percent for presents. According to the researchers “this shows the hedonistic intimate dimension of airport travellers. “

The survey was carried out in January 2006 with the help of AddedValue, a marketing company and Stephane Chevrier, a sociologist specialising in travel.
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