Men stick to one loyalty card; women shop around

WM Circle Logo

By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on March 28, 2011

Men stick to one loyalty card; women shop around

When it comes to the choices they make about loyalty programme memberships, women are much more likely than men to engage with multiple loyalty schemes, according to a survey by Air Miles Canada.

The survey found that more than 80% of Canadian women belong to more than one loyalty programme, compared to only 69% of men. In fact, one in four women (25%) said they carry at least five loyalty cards in their purse.

According to Patrick Sojka, founder of Rewards Canada, "Women may want to make the most out of every purchase, signing up for a variety of loyalty programmes, but men tend to have more credit cards. In both cases, consumers will eventually re-assess all the cards they carry to get the most out of them."

While both men and women acknowledged the need to reduce the amount of plastic in their wallets, their approach to spending and the cards they use are very different.

When it comes to credit cards, men are more likely to have more than one credit card (61% of men, compared to 53% of women), and one in every four men (25%) say they have too many credit cards in their wallet.

Men also appear to be more 'hands on' about managing their credit cards, as 42% agreed that they need to reassess the credit cards they have, compared with only 35% of women.

While two out of five men and women (40% each) say they frequently join loyalty programmes to ensure they are getting the best value out of every purchase, more than one quarter (27%) of those polled say they have too many loyalty cards in their wallet and agree that earning more points with fewer programmes would be more beneficial than earning fewer points in more programmes (82%).

Nearly two out of every five Canadians attested to having credit or department store debt, with women being more likely than men to say it affects their spending habits (74% compared to 63%). Despite this, 39% of Canadians said they don't actually use the loyalty cards in their wallet.

More Info: 

http://www.airmiles.ca