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Men and women are worlds apart on what they consider clean, how they clean, and how standards of cleanliness affect their purchase decisions.
Shopping analyst and author Paco Underhill says women have high expectations for cleanliness, and any place they consider messy or dirty is unlikely to get their business. This heightened sensitivity toward cleanliness has changed the way many hotels prepare their rooms before new guests arrive, says Underhill.
In the past, maids typically cleaned to return the rooms to a traditional state: Closet doors closed, bedspread neatly covering sheets. Now, hotels are leaving the rooms bare: open closet doors, shower curtains pulled back. This new model exposes any messes or dirt, says Underhill. And women prefer this stripped-bare transparency.
Women, not surprisingly, also tend to do more housecleaning than men do. Women are less likely than men to say that they would never clean if it weren’t for spring cleaning (23% vs. 30%), according to the American Cleaning Institute. At the same time, 49% of Americans overall clean their homes more often during the winter holiday season — an average of three additional times per week, reports Procter & Gamble.
Women are more likely than men to clean before a visitor arrives (76% vs. 58%) or because they have free time (66% vs. 57%). Men are marginally more likely than women to be spurred to clean because their home starts to smell (36% vs. 34%) or because of unfavorable comments (26% vs. 22%)
When men and women do clean, women engage in a broader range of activities. Women also prioritize cleaning tasks. Reorganization and de-cluttering are mandatory, whereas they are less likely to clean their cell phones or computer keyboards, or to wash windows.
Contacts and Connections: The American Cleaning Institute, Brian Sansoni, VP Communication, 1331 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20005; 202-662-2517; bsansoni@cleaninginstitute.org; www.cleaninginstitute.org.
What Women?Want, Paco Underhill. His agency: Envirosell, Deborah Geiger, 907 Broadway, 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10010; 212-673-9100; deborah@envirosell.com; www.envirosell.com.
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