When the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots square off this weekend in Super Bowl LX, it won’t just be a battle between the most formidable teams in each NFL conference, it will be a showdown between, the Dunkin-drinking, Cape Cod chip-eating, New Balance-wearing Pats from Massachusetts, and their Coors-swiging, Cheetos-chompin and multivitamin swallowing rivals from Washington state.
A new study conducted by purchase data platform compares the buying habits of consumers in the Bay and Evergreen states, and the results hew to many of the long-established archetypes for residents in both states.
Massachusettsans — the official demonym for Massachusetts residents, as deemed by the U.S. Government Publishing Office — love their Dunkin’ coffee, for instance. Consumers from the state buy Dunkin’ 46 percent more often than the average U.S. consumer, the Attain study finds.
Bostonians love Dunkin because the chain originated in Quincy, a suburb of Beantown. Further examination of Bay Staters, the unofficial moniker for Massachusetts residents, shows they are fiercely loyal to their homegrown brands.
Massachusetts residents buy Cape Cod potato chips at a 57 percent higher rate than the average American consumer. (A little on the nose with that one.) They also over-index on buying Pepperidge Farm, the baked goods brand founded in nearby New England state Connecticut. When it comes to pharmacies, Massachusettsans prefer CVS, whose first store opened in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1963. Their CVS shopping scores a 157 on a 100-point index scale (with 100 being the average).
Washington, meanwhile, over-indexes heavily on Coors products. The average Washingtonian buys Coors at more than twice the rate as the average American consumer, and Coors Light scores a 177 on the shopping index in Washington. Washington is known for the Olympic Mountains, but its residents love to tap the Rockies.
In fact, Washington residents love booze of all kinds. Residents of the state over-indexed on buying a variety of beer and liquor brands, including Budweiser (115), Jack Daniels (156), Miller Lite (152) and Modelo (160 on a 100-point scale). All those dreary, rainy days must really take their toll.
In many ways, the spending habits of Washingtonians bucks the stereotype of the crunchy, outdoorsy, health-conscious Pacific Northwesterner. Washington residents love junk food, for instance. They over-indexed on buying Cheetos (161 on a 100-point scale), Fritos (159), Lay’s (112), Hot Pockets (144), M&M’s (121) and Sprite (128).
There are stark differences between Massachusetts and Washington shoppers at the category level, too. Massachusettsans show a clear preference for discount (146 index score) and department stores (131), while Washington consumers are more drawn to club stores (126), such as Sam’s Club and Costco.
They are both politically blue coastal states, both tucked into the upper geographical corners of our great nation. But as Attain’s analysis shows, their spending habits are as far apart as their physical distance from one other.
