In light of the Valentines Day holiday, we decided to survey men

shopping at Victoria’s Secret to ask what their shopping experiences

were.

Shopping at a gender specific store can be stressful or even nerve-

wrecking the first time if you are of the opposite sex.

Victoria’s Secret is definitely one of those categories where often

times men would avoid going into the store.

Why do some men actually go into Victoria’s Secret to shop? How

do they feel and what are their experiences? We looked inside the

process of how our 10 male informants felt before, during, and after

their sexy shopping experiences to help you understand what is

going on in their minds.

Victor Lashley

Angela Carlisle

Brady Mattox

Justin Wang

Sentence Completion Method, Depth Interview, & Ethnography

Each participant is given a series of questions to fill out either

in one or multiple word blanks

A great way to get the participants to express themselves

and understand what goes on in their mind

Provides great and honest feedback

Allows the research to take on an emotional perspective of

what happens during the process

Our research staff used our projective research technique of sentence completion to question 10 male respondents between the ages of 19-30 years of age.

We used a total 13 questions divided into three sections: Before, During, and After. We chose to use this technique to get honest and emotional responses from our informants.

To accomplish the task of getting informants, our staff asked participants leaving Victoria’s Secret and self-identified one-time shoppers to fill out our surveys.

We hoped to receive accurate accounts of the experience of shopping at a gender specific store and easily classify their responses into few categories.

We chose to do this in person because it also allows us to directly observe their facial expressions while completing our survey.

Some respondents were

reluctant to take our survey, however, having a female to approach the males in order to get them to complete our surveys proved effective.

The following questions are examples of what we asked:

Before

How did you feel when entering the store?

During

What did you think other people thought of you?

After

What was your overall take on the experience?

Informant

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Total

Narrative Text: Feelings before

entering store

Uneasy: “...weird about

going into a women’s

lingerie store.”

Neutral: “…same as if

shopping in any other store.”

Excited: “…excited

about shopping there!”

Category: Uneasy

1

0

0

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

50%

Category: Neutral

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

20%

Category: Excited

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

30%

Informant

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Total

Narrative Text: How they felt

they were perceived

Clueless: “…just another

clueless guy Christmas shopping”

Caring: “…I was a good

boyfriend”

Routine: “…probably didn’t even notice me.”

Category: Clueless

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

40%

Category: Caring

1

1

0

0

1

1

1

1

0

1

70%

Category: Routine Shopper

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

10%

Informant

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Total

Narrative Text: Overall

Experience

Satisfied: “A++++!!!”

Neutral: “…okay, no

lasting impression.”

Dissatisfied: “…hope I don’t

have to go back again

soon”

Category: Satisfied

1

1

0

0

1

0

1

1

1

0

60%

Category: Neutral

0

0

1

1

0

0

1

0

0

1

40%

Category: Dissatisfied

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

20%

40% Spent

Less than

Predicted

30% Spent

More than

Predicted

20% Spent

the Same

Amount Predicted

10% Spent

Nothing

•Average Spending

Prediction: $85

•Average Total

Spent: $65

50% 50%

Asked for Assistance?

Yes

No 80%

20%

Would you Return?

Yes

No

4 Reasons:

• Four shoppers cited Product Tangibility

• Five shoppers stated that Shipping Takes

More Time than they had to wait.

• One shopper had No Credit Card.

(card required to shop online)

• Four shoppers went in-store to take

advantage of the Customer Service.

Our research found that the majority of our respondents felt uneasy before

entering the store. In contrast, we were shocked by how many would

voluntarily return to the store following their shopping experience.

The majority of our respondents were satisfied with their purchases.

Each shopper found a varying aspect of Victoria’s Secret store surprising:

› “I was surprised at how expensive tiny fabric can be!”

› “I was surprised at how cheap panties are!”

› “I was surprised at how busy the place was!”

› “I was surprised at how large the store was.”

Across the board, our respondents recognized

Victoria’s Secret’s reputation of excellence in terms of

both product and service.

We also found that very few respondents spent the

amount of money they anticipated to spend.

Finally, we found that because of the customer

service and the variety of products offered by the

store, the majority of our respondents either will or

would return to Victoria’s Secret.

Increased awareness of male-oriented products and brands is necessary and desired.

Victoria’s Secret should acknowledge male patrons by incorporating gender neutrality in its advertising in a percentage proportionate to male shoppers.

80% of our informants were gift shopping for

female counterparts. Victoria’s Secret should continue to highlight its store as a destination for holiday shopping.