Shopping Attraction

Research reveals many of us size up potential partners by the contests of their shopping basket!

Women have come clean and confessed to a guilty shopping secret.

A new survey reveals that nearly nine out of ten women in the UK judge their fellow shoppers on the contents of their shopping basket.

When it comes to sizing up men, it seems that nothing impresses women more than a man who buys red wine and potatoes!

Sweeping judgement

These findings lift the lid on just how far women go when eyeing up men at the checkout, revealing that they decide what their income is, what kind of lifestyle they lead and whether they'd make a good partner or even father, all based upon the contents of their shopping.

A bottle of red wine (95%) and new potatoes (93%) top the list of grocery items which women associate with a man who has a good job, beating other everyday purchases such as mince, soup, fish and ketchup.

Fresh fruit and vegetables in the basket are good sign too – so say 87% of women who named new potatoes, joint with apples, as the top items that show a man would make a good partner or husband.

Likewise, apples, cucumbers (both 88%) and new potatoes (86%) top the list of items women associate with a man who would make a good father.

Negative choices

The big basket turn-offs for women include cans of lager with more than eight in ten women associating them with a man who leads an unhealthy lifestyle.

Instant soup convinces 86% of women that a man is lazy and 80% that he has a poor job and salary.

Snap decision

In less time than it can take a man to decide between a shopping basket and a shopping trolley, women have sized men up and come to some big conclusions.

In under 10 seconds, two thirds of women will have checked out his shopping and decided if a man leads a healthy lifestyle, 62% will have determined if he takes care of himself and six in ten whether he has a lot of money.

Relationship expert Kate Taylor comments:

"Women are trained to spot suitable mates, and have many unconscious ways of assessing a man's partnership potential – including his height, the symmetry of his features and even his smell. Secretly snooping at a man's shopping is just the modern way of seeing what kind of provider he would be.

Some shopping basket items clearly have more "attractive" associations for women than others. As most "attractive" qualities are actually signs of fertility – like healthy skin tone or an inverse V shaped male torso – men should not overlook the pulling power of certain foods such as potatoes and apples. Women subconsciously want good fathers for their kids. New potatoes probably rank highly because they are healthy and take little time to prepare – a good father doesn't lock himself in the kitchen for hours to try to escape from his other domestic duties.

Seeing fresh fruit and veg in a man's shopping basket also inspires women to think he takes good care of himself. This personality trait is amazingly attractive, especially to modern women who know they won't have time to nag a partner about his health or take on the overhauling of his diet like a big project. As women constantly stretch themselves to improve, they want men who can keep up. So potatoes, apples and other healthy fruit and veg say 'You won't have to mother me' which is highly desirable."

Keen on cooking

When it comes to the foods that a man needs to buy in order for a woman to want him to cook for her, new potatoes top the list (two thirds of respondents) followed by onions (61%), other potatoes (e.g. baking or roasting potatoes) and a bottle of red wine (both with 55% of the vote).

The survey also reveals that nearly two thirds of women will decide that a man buying potatoes or new potatoes is interested in cooking, 58% will assume that he is healthy and 54% will deem that he is practical - proving he can look after himself.

Regional warning

Men in the South West should be particularly wary of what they put in their shopping baskets as more women (91%) judge others on what they buy than any other region.

If they want to impress women, men should also ensure that they put new potatoes in their baskets as they are the top item that women in the region associate with a healthy lifestyle (98%) and good partner material (92%).