Overall, our findings substantiate the hypothesis that gender predicts the healthiness of beverage c

1
The Skinny on Coffee Drinkers Gender
Differences in Healthy Beverage Choices
Rachel L. Osborne, Braden D. Ackley, Traci A.
Giuliano Southwestern University
Method
Abstract
Conclusion
Overall, our findings substantiate the
hypothesis that gender predicts the healthiness
of beverage choice. In fact, gender differences
were pronounced, as females were nearly three
times more likely than were males to order a
healthy alternative of a particular beverage.
Importantly, our study confirms that relative to
males, females tend to be healthier consumers and
make more health-conscious decisions. This notion
is strongly supported by the findings of previous
research, which indicate that females are more
prone to incorporate reduced-fat products into
their diets (Alexander Tupper, 1995). More
importantly, the current study extends past
findings, confirming that gender-patterned food
consumption can be applied to the realm of
beverages and is evident in public settings.
One potential explanation for our findings
concerns Aruguete et al.s (2006) suggestion that
men and women differ according to their health
concerns, such that women perceive a stronger
link between diet and health than do men. Thus,
perhaps the females in our study, more so than
the males, perceived a beverage with a healthy
modification as more beneficial to their health
than a standard option with normal fat, sugar,
and calorie content. Another underlying
explanation for our findings may be the issue of
body image. A wealth of research shows that women
(compared to men) perceive their actual figure as
smaller than the ideal, perhaps a result of
societal messages that equate a womans thinness
to her beauty (Fallon Rozin, 1985 Tiggeman,
2006). Whereas beauty standards certainly exist
for both genders, Aruguete et al. (2006) reported
that females internalize these standards and
impose them on themselves, whereas men
externalize them and utilize them to judge
others. Although the results of the
present study are promising, several limitations
warrant mention. First, as this study
incorporated a naturalistic observation design,
no causal relationship between gender and drink
order can be inferred. Furthermore, the setting
of the observations, although ideal for reducing
reactivity, was not conducive to clearly
identifying a customers order. Finally, the
patrons knowledge of the menu was not controlled
for, which introduces a potential element of bias
in the study that is, drink orders may have been
due to patrons lack of knowledge about the menu
rather than a particular desire to be healthy or
unhealthy. Despite these limitations,
the relationship between gender and food
consumption is a viable avenue for further
investigation. One possible extension of the
current study would be to explore gender
differences across ethnicities, races, and
religions to identify any factors that moderate
the gender gap observed here. Additionally, the
situational factors involved in eating
behavior--such as the role of audience, setting,
and occasion--may prove to be a fruitful topic of
research. Hopefully, the exploration of
gender-related eating habits will provide further
insight into societys current fixation with food
consumption and will have implications for the
marketing strategies of the food and restaurant
industries.
The goal of the present study was to explore the
relationship between gender and health-conscious
decisions, particularly in the realm of
beverages. Based on the notion that females are
generally more preoccupied with their health, it
was hypothesized that females would be more
likely than would males to order a healthy
beverage than an unhealthy beverage. To
investigate this relationship, a naturalistic
observation study was conducted in a popular
coffee shop in central Texas. The drink orders of
96 patrons (34 males, 62 females) were classified
as either healthy or unhealthy. As predicted, the
results revealed a relationship between
participants orders and their gender, such that
females were significantly more likely than males
to order a healthy version of a drink. Our
findings suggest that health-food advertising may
be reaching a primarily female population.
Participants in the current study were 96
patrons (34 male, 62 female) of a local coffee
shop who were approximately 15 years of age and
older. A 2 x 2 categorical design was used, in
which gender and beverage order were the
variables of interest. Beverage orders were
classified as either healthy or unhealthy
healthy beverages were those that were ordered
with at least one healthy modifier (e.g.,
sugar-free, nonfat, or light), whereas unhealthy
beverages were those that were offered in a
healthier version yet were ordered without any
healthy modifiers. The unobtrusive observations
took place from inside the coffee venue, and
consisted of identifying the gender of each
patron and characterizing his or her drink order
as either healthy or unhealthy. All orders were
identified by either listening to the
participants verbalize an order themselves or by
listening to the barista verbally announce the
orders. It is important to note that any patron
ordering more than one drink item was excluded
from the study, and no food orders were taken
into account.
Introduction
Results
A chi-square test of independence revealed a
significant relationship between gender and drink
order, ?2(1, N 96) 10.60, p predicted, males were more likely to order the
standard, unhealthy version of a drink (86.50 )
than a healthy version (13.50 ), whereas females
showed an almost equal tendency to order the
unhealthy version of a drink (48.69 ) and the
healthy version (51.61 ). Figure 1 shows the
frequencies of healthy and unhealthy beverages
ordered by participants. As depicted in the
figure, the proportion of males ordering an
unhealthy beverage dramatically overshadowed the
proportion ordering a healthy beverage, whereas
females ordered healthy and unhealthy drinks in
approximately equal proportions.
Amidst the endless promotion of
diet-friendly food products in self-help books,
food packages, and restaurant commercials, it is
evident that society is preoccupied with food
consumption, a phenomenon that may be attributed
to perceptions about the impact of food on ones
weight and health (Aruguete, Yates, Edman,
2006 Rozin et al., 2003). Although
this fixation on food consumption is known to
vary according to race, ethnicity, religion, and
geographic location (Rozin et al., 2003), a large
body of research suggests that gender is the
leading predictor of both food perceptions and
eating behavior (Aruguete et al., 2006 Rozin et
al., 2003). One fundamental source of variation
between men and women concerns their unique
health attitudes (Rozin et al., 2003), such that
men place a lesser degree of importance on
healthy eating than do women. For instance,
Wardle et al. (2004) found that men, in
comparison to women, do not perceive low-fat,
reduced-sodium, and high-fiber food products to
be as important to their health. Interestingly,
the relative health attitudes of men and women
are manifested in their food mentality (Aruguete
et al., 2006 Rozin et al., 2003). Specifically,
research confirms that women are more likely to
use health schemas in the context of food,
weighting its health effects above its culinary
properties (Rozin et al., 2003). Most
importantly, gender differences have been
observed in terms of actual food consumption,
even on a universal level (Wardle et al., 2004).
For instance, empirical research has concluded
that dieting is more prevalent among women than
men, and that women are more prone than men to
consume diet-friendly products (e.g., foods low
in sugar, fat or salt Rozin et al., 2003). Men
are even more likely to eat at fast food
restaurants--typical venues of unhealthy eating
(Aruguete et al., 2006). Taken
together, it is apparent that womens food
consumption is healthier than is mens, which can
be explained by womens greater concern for
improving their health and managing their weight
(Alexander Tupper, 1995). However, most of the
research to date has given little attention to
the consumption of beverages. Furthermore, there
is a dearth of research on peoples behavior in
public eating environments, which may provide
special insight into the eating habits and health
consciousness of men and women. Accordingly, the
present study attempted to address these gaps in
the literature. Specifically, we explored the
relationship between gender and health-conscious
behavior, focusing on the context of beverages. A
naturalistic observation study was conducted at a
local coffee venue that offered customers several
healthy modifiers on standard drink items. Based
on the research reviewed thus far, we expected to
find a significant relationship between gender
and drink choice, such that females would
demonstrate a greater tendency than would males
to order a healthy version of a drink (rather
than the standard, unhealthy version).
Drinks Ordered