Food and beverage researcher, Mintel, has uncovered a bit of a gender gap when it comes to male and female ice cream preferences. According to a 2008 study by the group, 70 percent of men prefer plain ice cream, like chocolate or vanilla, while 74 percent of women would rather grab a scoop of ice cream with chocolate or candy bits in it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that men and women don’t like each other’s preferences. The same study showed that 66 percent of women would opt for a plain scoop after they’ve had their fix of fancier flavors, and 63 percent of men would do the same with the women’s preferred flavor.
All of this leaves us wondering: What do you think about this study? Does it ring true for you or your spouse’s personal ice cream preferences?
Loading ...
If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I think it’s definitely true I like the plainer flavors. If anything, you can always add to the plain to make it a bit more exciting
Well in my house, the man (my husband) likes the plain flavors, but is not a real big fan of chocolate. And the boys (my sons) think the more gushy gobby stuff you can mix in the better. And me…I like both kinds as long as it’s Turkey Hill!!
my husband loves butter peacan and black cherry. i go more for the mixed ones like moose tracks(love it)also pistashio(spelling ???). any thing but cookis dough. yuk!!!
My husband loves butter pecan, but isn’t too picky. He’ll eat anything I bring into the house. I prefer anything but plain ice cream. Love ChocoMint Chip, anything mixed up (except cookie dough) and especially those with mocha or coffee flavor in it. I will eat anything chocolate….except chocolate ice cream. Is that weird?
in the end it’s ice cream , i wanna know who won the ice cream cone dishes….lol
So true! My husband prefers plain chocolate. I like chocolate chip or ice cream with nuts in it.
My daughter and I love Mint Choc Chip best. And Husband and son love Moose Tracks best. No plains in our house.
oh btw i saw the turkey hill ice cream cow on rt 130 south bound yesterday , beep beep!was all i could do as traffic was whizz’in…smiles.
I used to like plain vanilla best – but now I love Moose Tracks.
My wife and younger daughter like Cookies and Cream. My older daughter always like pistachio and Mint Chocolate Chip, While I prefer Neopolitan and my son liked Chocolate.
When I saw the title of the article, my guess was plain for guys, and fancier mixes for women. My husband likes vanilla, but I almost never buy it. He eats plenty of what I do buy, though.
Although my husband actually choices all the flavors with mix ins he’s the one who turned me into a vanilla bean lover.
It’s probably true…I love to dump as many things as possible into my ice cream (though nothing chocolate). The fella likes plain chocolate with a peanut butter swirl. Though pinkberry is another story. I like mine plain, and he likes to pile on the toppings!
I love to try all your new “JUST OUT” flavors, alot of the time, I’ll make into a smoothie. so goooooooooood.
True for my husband and myself, he prefers chocolate ice cream and I like to be adventurous (but not to adventurous, I have my limitations).
I’m not so sure about the results of this study.
My husband and I have the same favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip! And we both like other flavors with stuff in them, but he tends to like crunchier stuff (like rocky road) while I like smoother stuff (such as chocolate chip cookie dough)!
i like to put bits of pretzels in to just about all flavors that i like. puts some crunch into ice cream. reel good.
Me fruity.
The more flavor and additions the better. The only time plain vanilla is good is on top of homemade pie!!
I like plain ice cream, no additions, give me chocolate!
Yes I am FEMALE!!!
vanilla and chocolate, we usually have one or the other
You must have surveyed my husband and I because he likes his ice cream plain without all “kinds of pieces of stuff in it”, where I prefer ice cream that has mix-ins, and the more the better.
Hi Turkey Hill Fans, I am not sure of this study for the following reason; Where did the study take place, ages of the people, such as were they real young, young, medium ages or older people? Where did they lived. and income? I like all kind of Turkey Hill ice cream.
plain is fine but a variety is nice to
I have alot of flavors of TH in my freezer and my brother never tells me which kind he likes. I just give him 2-3 dips of the different flavors. The same goes for me plain or loaded with all sorts of goodies is fine with me. Linda
My husband says his favorite flavor is vanilla but if he finds my different flavor ice cream in the freezer he will eat it and like it but tells ms to buy him vanilla when he runs out of his. So yeah I believe the research.
Survey rings true in my home! My husband eats TH vanilla and I eat chocolate marshmellow, but I will buy other flavors, too. But those 2 flavors are staples in my house!
Variety adds spice to life, so I say keep all of the TH ice cream coming. Usually, I will opt for ice cream with something added but there are times when I am in a plain mood. The same goes for the men in my family. None of us always want the same kind, so we have several flavors of TH ice cream in our freezer!
My husband complains that I always buy ice cream with too much stuff in it. However, he likes butter almond and butter pecan and I love plain old coffee (he doesn’t). Truth be told, I don’t really care if it has “stuff” or not….they are all acceptable to me!
Sounds like the survey rings true for most!
Who didn’t know that?
Although I enjoy many kinds of ice cream, I am really a purist. Plain coffee, vanilla, chocolate or raspberry for me. My husband is a little tricky with ice cream—I can never be sure.
I think women like to savor ice cream more than men which is why they like the flavors to be a little more decadent.
[...] According to a 2008 study, 70% of men tend to prefer vanilla ice cream, while 74% of women prefer ice cream with bits of chocolate or candy in it. [...]
I agree with the survey. I love the added peanut butter pieces, chocolate chips, nuts, butter crunch and more. To me the more the merrier.
I love new kinds of flavor combinations which Turkey Hill is putting out all the time. The Duettos are fantastic. My wife likes a light chocolate flavor but really likes the ice cream with pretzels and chocolate in it. It is all good, YES YES
Yes, so true!
Yes, my husband likes plain chocolate and I like nuts, fruit, peanut butter, the more in the ice cream the better. So I agree with the survey, women love their ice cream loaded !!!!!
I love your ice cream!
Hello, not commenting on the entry here, but wanted to log my family’s Vote for Double Dunker… it came and went fast in our store, so i am assuming alot of folks liked it. They hope you will add that regularly to your line. I do believe it would be a big seller. THanks for listening!
They say opposites attract. Can you relate this to spouses who favor different ice cream flavors? Men are in a hurry. Give me my plain ice cream so I can start enjoying it. Women take their time and enjoy the toppings. There is no accounting for tastes.
Turkey Hill anything with chocolate has kept us together since 1965!
This does ring true. We see it as our contribution to Turkey Hill. By fulfilling our need to buy multi-flavors to accomodate our preferences, we also are increasing Turkey Hill’s business. Simply a win-win situation!
I do prefer quirky flavors with fun mix-ins. Life is too short to just stick with vanilla!
I must be the oddball. My wife is basically the plain ice cream eater, except for Moose Tracks. I am the one that loves all of the crazy flavors.
I will try anything in the ice cream world. My husband on the other hand, is very vanilla.
Maybe we are married too long since both of us are not plain vanilla people. I prefer fruit and hubby prefers nuts bit both of us LOVE the “BOX of CHOCOLATE”
Ah! If only I had a spouse! Okay, okay enough of that. On the other hand, I get to eat my favorite Turkey Hill Butter Pecan and there is no one to grumble that I don’t buy any plain stuff!
Thinking of my grown sons, although they’ll eat whatever is available, prefer stuff without nuts. Go figure!
I’M NOT A VANILLA GUY, I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER CUP,COOKIES AND CREAM,CHOCO MINT CHIP AND “ALL” DUETTE FLAVORS.
As with most things I’m much more opinionated. I prefer the plainer flavors and my husband will eat whatever we have in the house. He does however choose the mix ins. We don’t fall into the 70 percent of men like the plainer flavors. We both agree on one think Turkey Hill is great.
Yes, this is true in my case… I love all sorts of candy and other things mixed in, but my boyfriend prefers plain chocolate. We usually have at least 2 different flavors of Turkey Hill in our freezer to accomodate this!
add ins are good though give me deep rich chocolate any day and it is heaven
For me, this is right on. I just want it all, wheras my boyfriend is a much more simple ice-cream creature. While this is a very intersting, I’d like to see what other ice cream studies have been done. For example, which is more popular in 2009: Fro-Yo or real, old-fashioned ice cream? I’d like to see the latter of the two pull ahead, but I have my doubts!