美国国家公共电台 NPR Online Big Spenders Tend To Be Men, NPR/Marist Poll Shows

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Americans are not just shopping online. They are buying pricey items on the Web. Nearly 3 out of 10 online shoppers in the United States have bought a product that costs a thousand dollars or more. That is according to an NPR/Marist poll. And as NPR's Uri Berliner reports, those big online spenders are much more likely to be men than women.

URI BERLINER, BYLINE¹: The early days of the Web were pretty cumbersome².

(SOUNDBITE OF AOL AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) How long have you had this?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) About a week. And it's so easy. All you do is point and click.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) But how does it work?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) All you need is a computer and a regular phone line.

BERLINER: That's an AOL ad from the 1990s. Back then online shopping wasn't just awkward...

(SOUNDBITE OF DIAL-UP MODEM)

BERLINER: It felt risky³. People were afraid to give out their credit card numbers. They worried, if products would arrive, would they be able to return them? Sucharita Kodali is an analyst⁴ with Forrester Research. She says gradually online shoppers dipped their toes in the water.

SUCHARITA KODALI: And it would start with relatively⁵ low-ticket transactions, like a book, and that really was, I think, the beginning of it.

BERLINER: The it she's talking about is the explosion in Internet shopping. Last year, U.S. shoppers spent $453 billion on retail⁶ purchases online. And many of them go big. Twenty-seven percent of online shoppers have bought an item that costs $1,000 or more. What do they buy? Just about anything.

CARA VETOR: I purchased an infrared⁷ sauna online for about $1,100 in 2015.

ANDY PENNELL: I bought a full-size movie prop⁸ of Han Solo in carbonite for $1,800.

ALAN KWOK: I bought a lab-grown diamond engagement ring online for $11,000.

KENNA MCKENZIE: Two harps¹⁰. My latest harp⁹ cost $1,800.

BERLINER: That's Cara Vetor of Indianapolis, Ind., Andy Pennell of Kirkland, Wash., Alan Kwok of Austin, Texas, and Kenna McKenzie of Tucumcari, N.M.

If you dig a little deeper into the habits of online spenders, a striking fact emerges. Men are twice as likely as women to buy an item online that costs a thousand dollars or more. Guys have twitchier fingers. Kodali says she's not surprised. Men are usually the early adopters when it comes to technology.

KODALI: If you were to consider, you know, high-end e-commerce purchases, and something that, you know, has historically had a lot of hold outs, the gender¹¹ that I would expect to be the first to experiment with it would, of course, be men. And I think that's why you're seeing the breakout that you're seeing.

BERLINER: Americus Reed, a professor of marketing¹² at Wharton, believes there's another factor at work, too.

AMERICUS REED: What the research has shown is that men tend to, if they are going to check something out, go to the store quickly, kind of gather as much information as they can quickly and just buy it online, particularly because it's just faster.

BERLINER: Rick Hays of Tallahassee, Fla., has no qualms¹³ about a big purchase he made last year at an online auction¹⁴, even though it's just two sentences long.

RICK HAYS: I purchased a note that Mark Twain had written regarding a missing package, and I paid about $1,500 for it.

BERLINER: Hays says his wife has very different buying habits.

HAYS: She struggled with buying a, you know, a hundred-dollar dress recently online. You know, she wants the experience of seeing it, the tactile¹⁵ experience, I think, of being around whatever item she wants to get.

BERLINER: Hays says there may be another reason he's the more adventurous¹⁶ online shopper. His wife is still working. Hays is retired¹⁷ so he's got more time to browse¹⁸. And just last week, Hays struck again, buying a signed picture of Muhammad Ali for $1,020. He says he was willing to go higher. Uri Berliner, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EBAY SONG")

WEIRD¹⁹ AL YANKOVIC: (Singing) I bought it on eBay. Want to buy a "Pac-Man Fever" lunchbox? Want to buy a case of vintage tube socks?

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

8 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

9 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

10 harps   

abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She continually harps on lack of money. 她总唠叨说缺钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He could turn on the harps of the blessed. 他能召来天使的竖琴为他奏乐。 来自辞典例句

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

13 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

14 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

15 tactile   

adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的

参考例句：

• Norris is an expert in the tactile and the tangible.诺里斯创作最精到之处便是，他描绘的人物使人看得见摸得着。
• Tactile communication uses touch rather than sight or hearing.触觉交流，是用触摸感觉，而不是用看或听来感觉。

16 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

17 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

18 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

19 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。