The PriceWatch team hits the aisles and the phones to find out if men or women get the better deal. Some of the results might surprise you

DO MARKETERS think that men or women are more likely to swallow a higher price tag? With a mission to see if that extra X chromosome really makes things different for girls, we hit the supermarket aisles, hair salons and call centre queues and found out that the price you pay often depends on your gender.

First up is a trip to the supermarket health and beauty isle where there were one or two surprises in store. When it comes to deodorant, razors, facial wash and shower gel in the same size and from the same manufacturer, it is in fact the girls who get the better deal. Comparing our men’s and women’s shopping baskets of seven items on sale at both Superquinn on Sundrive Road and on Tesco.ie, it’s men who pay the higher price for being clean, fresh-smelling and fuzz free.

In the shower, Dove Moisturising Bodywash (250ml) will set a girl back €2.79 at Superquinn, while Dove Men Bodywash in the same size however is 80 cent more expensive. For the same products on Tesco.ie, men pay €1.26 more than women. So men, if you don’t mind smelling a bit sweeter, you could save yourself the price of more than half a litre of petrol with the girly option.

Roll-on deodorant should have men up in arms too. At Superquinn, Dove’s Go Fresh roll-on in Water Lily (50ml) gives 24-hour protection for €2.65. While the same size bottle of Dove Men roll-on in Extra Fresh or Cool stays on the case for 48 hours, men pay an extra 34 cents for it in both Superquinn and Tesco.ie.

And girls, if you think it’s cheaper to use your man’s razor, then look again. BIC Pure 3 Lady Aloe Vera costs €3.19 for four, three-bladed razors while BIC 3 Grip razors for men, also with three blades, cost 30 cent more. These products were not available on Tesco.ie

But before you put that razor to your face or your legs, you might need some shaving gel – and this is one place where the girls can save some cash.

Gillette’s magnificently named Satin Care Floral Passion shaving gel in the women’s isle at Superquinn costs €4.99 for 200ml. Look on the men’s shelf and you can pick up the same quantity of Gillette Series Shave Gel or Gillette Classic Shave Gel, both for sensitive skin for €3.69 and €2.49 respectively. Surely if it’s sensitive enough for a man’s face, it’s unlikely to blight the legs of the fairer sex?

While a lick of a flannel might have done your Dad, the wash bag of the modern man is more likely to contain facial wash and moisturiser – and here it’s the men who are paying more.

Simple’s Refreshing Facial Wash Gel in Superquinn’s women’s aisle costs €4.15 while the same quantity of Simple Hydrating Face Wash for Men is priced at €4.99. There was no similar product for men on Tesco.ie.

Men are paying more for similar moisturisers too – 50ml of Nivea Visage Q10 Plus Anti-wrinkle Day Cream with SPF15 for all skin types is priced at €12.39 while Nivea for Men Revitalising Moisturiser which “revitalises and strengthens tired and stressed skin” also with Q10 is priced at €13.19. That’s 80 cent in the difference. On Tesco.ie, men pay €2.34 more than women.

When it comes to keeping your barnet clean, the shelf for women’s shampoos heaves with options with few men’s versions of the same products.

One shampoo manufacturer that does do a men’s version however is Head Shoulders. At €5.99, a 500ml bottle of its Classic Clean shampoo costs the same as its ‘For Men’ option in both Superquinn and Tesco.ie.

Comparing our baskets, it’s clear that regardless of where Irish men shop, they are paying more for the same quantity and brand of similar products than women.

Next stop is the hairdresser – or rather a phone call to the hairdresser. Explaining that his locks are “shoulder length and in need of a trim”, Harry is quoted €34 for a wet cut at Peter Mark on Grafton Street. Meanwhile a trim of Joanne’s hair, also described as shoulder length, costs €58.

Hitting the call centre queues, feigning the same age, address and health insurance record – we both got exactly the same health insurance quote of €816.50 for VHI’s One Plan.

But no surprise that when it comes to car insurance for the same vehicle, located at the same address and with the same driver safety record, the statistically more dangerous male driver pays more. The quote from AXA for comprehensive car insurance for Joanne was €502.56 while for Harry it was €600.

While Harry was told that breakdown cover was AXA’s most popular additional cover “even for guys”, the pitch to the girls was different. “I would recommend that you get that because if you get a flat wheel and you can’t change it, if you break down on a dark road on a winter’s night, it’s great to be able to call on someone to look after you,” the agent told potential damsel in distress, Joanne.

How do men’s and women’s buyer behaviour differ? We asked some experts. Are men less price- sensitive than women? According to Paul Kelders, managing director of consumer insight agency Jump, the short answer is a qualified “no”.

“People are equally price sensitive in the main. What most consumers are interested in now is value – it’s the new watchword,” says Kelders.

What value means to consumers is a question Kelders’s team has researched extensively. “When a company comes to us, the first thing we get them to ask themselves is, ‘is my product worth buying?’” he says.

“For consumers, value is about how the product performs on a financial level, an emotional level, a functional level and an ethical level. Of these four different types of value, tests have shown that functional value is the most important (does it perform?) and only then does it come down to price.”

According to Kelders, the real differences between how men and women make buying decisions begin at the next stage, emotional value. “That’s where the big difference comes in, because where a woman wants to feel sexy and sassy from a perfume, a man might want to feel potent, powerful and virile from his choice of aftershave. That sort of stuff is ingrained into us and it may be a stereotype, but it’s a stereotype for a reason,” he adds.

Susan Kelly of market research agency MCCP has carried out in-depth research into how and why we buy. In addition to surveys and retailer data, the agency also carries out accompanied shops, observing people doing their weekly shop and asking them why they bought what they did.

And with CSO figures showing that 277,600 of the 447,000 people unemployed are men, this is precipitating a sea change in how shopping is done in Ireland according to Kelly, with a sharp rise in what she calls the “Daddy Day Care phenomenon”.

She says that household brands in particular need to learn how to connect with men and to give them help, without talking down to them, as she discovered on a recent accompanied shop in Limerick.

“The man had worked in the construction industry until recently, but now he’s at home and he’s the main grocery shopper. I was a little taken aback when he told me of his love for Old El Paso Fajita kits – he was quite emphatic about it.

“After talking with him, I realised it was because they basically give you a shopping list on the side of the box. There’s a picture of the ingredients on the side, so he knows what to buy; on the back there’s a recipe that tells him how to prepare it; and the picture on the front of the box tells him how to serve it.”

But is there a reason that comparable products can be more expensive based on the gender of the customer?

The basic men’s and women’s razor for instance is essentially the same product, but varies greatly in price. According to Kelders, it’s a simple question of economics.

“Men have very limited options when it comes to de-fuzzing their faces – we can’t use Veet, we can’t get our faces waxed, we can’t use electrolysis. We either use an electric or manual razor. Women’s razors are competing with these other options, so therefore they need to price themselves lower. As a result, it’s not fair to compare the two – for guys the razor is king, it’s all we’ve got!