Google
vs.
Microsoft
–
Who
Buys
More
Junk
Food?
Conventional
wisdom
in
Silicon
Valley
says
that
Google
is
starting
to
become
the
next
Microsoft.
This
inspired
Rapleaf
to
compare
the
two
companies
on
a
new
dimension:
grocery-‐shopping
behavior.
We
looked
in
our
database
for
data
about
people
with
an
@google.com
or
an
@microsoft.com
email
address,
and
we
created
a
sample
of
approximately
6,000
Google
employees
and
16,000
Microsoft
employees.
After
anonymizing
the
data,
we
worked
with
data
from
a
loyalty
cards
aggregator
to
evaluate
the
employees’
purchase
trends
at
grocery
stores.
For
each
company,
we
looked
at
the
percentage
of
customers
who
purchased
major
grocery
store
products
and
compared
the
percentages
side-‐by-‐side.
Here’s
what
we
found.
A
seemingly
unhealthy
bunch,
Googlers
are
more
likely
to
spend
their
grocery
money
on
bacon
and
on
ice
cream
than
Microsoft
employees
are.
To
balance
out
their
diet,
Googlers
are
also
more
likely
to
buy
fresh
fruits
and
veggies.
Microsoft
employees,
on
the
other
hand,
prefer
to
get
their
nutrients
the
modern
way—by
buying
vitamins.
They
are
also
more
likely
to
buy
more
basic
forms
of
grocery
vices,
like
butter.
What
accounts
for
these
differences?
Are
Googlers
just
a
young
bunch
of
free-‐eatin’
hooligans
and
Microsoft
employees
a
wise
group
of
health-‐conscious
consumers?
Our
demographic
data
on
age
distributions
(see
below)
certainly
supports
this
hypothesis.
But
purchase
behavior
experts
at
Kantar
Shop.com
–
a
data
integration,
analytics
and
insights
firm
and
a
Kantar
Retail
company,
offer
another
explanation.
According
to
Kantar,
Shop.com,
purchases
like
ice
cream
tend
to
be
more
a
reflection
of
one’s
shopping
style:
if
you
routinely
buy
groceries
once
a
week,
you
buy
fewer
novelties—items
that
provide
“fleeting
pleasure”
and
little
nutritional
value.
If
you
make
quick
run-‐ins
for
items
when
you
can,
you
tend
to
buy
more
novelties.
Googlers
might
be
more
likely
to
buy
ice
cream
and
bacon
due
to
a
shopping
style
difference,
which
could
itself
be
a
consequence
of
age.
They
could
also
be
more
likely
to
buy
ice
cream
and
bacon
as
a
result
of
the
Google
cafeterias
—
the
ubiquity
of
delicious
food
at
Google
does
not
encourage
a
steady
shopping
routine.
After
all,
Googlers
can
feel
freer
to
spend
their
grocery
dollars
on
novelties
when
their
basic
nutritional
needs
are
met
at
work.
Could
this
also
explain
why
more
Microsoft
employees
buy
butter?
More
of
them
probably
cook
at
home
in
the
absence
of
a
world-‐class
cafeteria
at
work,
and
butter
is
primarily
used
as
an
ingredient.
Indeed,
Microsoft
employees
are
also
more
likely
to
buy
the
snack
items
that
are
abundant
at
Google:
breakfast,
granola
and
yogurt
bars.
The
two
groups
show
equal
affinities
for
standard
items
such
as
nuts,
spaghetti
sauces
and
fruit
jams.
Now
let’s
look
at
the
brand
preferences.
Googlers
and
Microsoft
employees
show
the
same
affinity
for
traditional
fare
like
Kraft
products
and
Aunt
Jemima
syrups.
They
also
score
about
even
on
the
Coke/Pepsi
divide.
But
Googlers
prefer
Doritos
and
Mountain
Dew,
and
Microsoft
employees
are
more
likely
to
buy
Orville
Redenbacher’s
popcorn.
Maybe
it’s
the
gray-‐haired
Orville
on
the
label
that
makes
Orville
Redenbacher’s
more
popular
with
Microsoft
employees.
Labeling
is
never
an
accident.
—there
is
likewise
a
reason
Mountain
Dew
is
dyed
green.
Brands
market
themselves
to
specific
audiences
and
certain
brands
make
it
a
point
to
corner
the
younger
market—they
will
be
around
longer
and
have
yet
to
solidify
their
brand
preferences.
This
is
the
logic
responsible
for
putting
Ali
Landry
in
Doritos
commercials,
and
for
evolving
Mountain
Dew
from
its
wholesome
aesthetic
in
the
‘50s,
with
its
“It’ll
tickle
your
innards”
slogan,
to
its
current
txt-‐generation
stylized
“Mtn
Dew”
label.
So
perhaps
these
brand
preferences
point
again
to
the
different
age
distributions
between
Google
and
Microsoft
employees.
Or
maybe
children
compel
Microsoft
employees
to
buy
more
popcorn,
our
partners
at
Kantar
Shopcom
pointed
out.
A
family
with
kids
could
be
more
likely
to
buy
a
snack
like
Orville
Redenbacher’s
popcorn
for
family
movie
nights.
This
hypothesis
is
also
supported
by
the
higher
percentage
of
Microsoft
employees
who
buy
Capri
Sun…we
are
pretty
sure
no
one
drinks
it
past
age
sixteen.
Microsoft
employees
are
more
likely
to
buy
dog
and
cat
treats
and
grooming
products,
a
tendency
our
expert
says
also
correlates
with
a
providing
more
for
children
and
family.
Microsoft
employees
are
also
more
likely
to
buy
grooming
products
for
themselves
—
the
older,
the
wiser.
Which
brings
us
to
demographics.
Even
accounting
for
age,
more
Microsoft
employees
than
Googlers
are
married,
and
more
Microsoft
employees
have
children.
Google
Status:
single,
no
children
Marital
status
and
family
data
Not
surprisingly,
our
demographic
data
showed
that
Microsoft
employees
tend
to
be
older
and
Googlers
tend
to
be
younger.
Google
and
Microsoft
are
in
fierce
competition
for
the
best
talent.
How
are
they
faring
on
compensation?
We
found
that
the
income
distribution
peaks
for
Googlers
between
$50,000-‐100,000
per
year,
whereas
40%
of
Microsoft
employees
have
an
income
of
over
$150,000.
The
discrepancy
can
probably
be
explained
by
the
higher
proportion
of
married
employees
at
Microsoft,
since
income
reflects
earnings
per
household.
Every
company
has
its
own
personality.
As
we
demonstrate
here,
Googlers
and
Microsoft
employees
have
different
shopping
habits
on
the
whole.
So
should
they
be
getting
the
same
coupons
in
their
mail
or
email
inboxes?
Some
of
us
just
are
not
going
to
buy
Capri
Sun
no
matter
how
great
of
a
steal
it
is.
Of
course,
the
differences
do
not
stop
at
the
company
level.
As
individuals
in
this
world,
we
all
have
our
own
set
of
preferences,
likes
and
dislikes.
If
we
are
all
different,
why
do
many
companies
treat
us
as
if
we
are
the
same?
How
can
our
world
become
more
personalized
and
tailored
to
what
we
want?