I’d Like a Small Coffee, and I Want it 20 Seconds Faster.

I came across two articles the other day that I thought I might discuss on the blog.  The first is titled, “Waiting for Good Joe,” and is written by Tim Harford of Slate Magazine.  In the article, Harford provides readers with a seemingly unimportant (in the grand scheme of things) statistic:

“Men get their coffee 20 seconds earlier than do women.”

Now, before anyone starts preemptively choosing reasons why these statistics are skewed, another study used by Malcolm Gladwell, a respected social psychologist and best selling author, comes to the same conclusion.  Gladwell describes the experiment which was conducted by Ian Ayres, a law professor at Yale:

In Blink, I tell the story of a study done by the law professor Ian Ayres. Ayres put together of group of young men and women–half white and half black–and sent them to 242 car dealerships all around Chicago. All were attractive, well dressed, and well-educated. All had the same cover story: that they were professionals from a wealthy part of Chicago. All pointed to the lowest-priced car on the floor and said–“I’m interested in buying this car.” Ayres’s question was–all other things being equal, how does skin color and gender affect the initial price quoted by a car salesman?  His results: white men, on average, got quoted a price $725 above invoice, white women got quoted a price $935 above invoice, black women $1195 above invoice, and black men $1687 above invoice.

What is interesting to me is that these studies were done not from a gender studies angle (or race or class).  They were performed to show business owners that employees were subconsciously (or consciously) treating customers differently.  The goal of the studies seems to be to help these companies form better business plans in the long run since everyone’s money is worth the same.

I think these studies are great, but I can’t help feeling they reach the right conclusions for the wrong reasons.  What I mean by that is nowhere in these articles do the authors discuss the reasons why women end up waiting longer, just that they do.  Also, it seems to “go without saying” that this form of discrimination is bad; however, the articles don’t seem to make any sort of claims regarding what consequences should come from this form of discrimination or how we can better raise awareness in employees about these issues.

I realize that the article may have been trying to remain impartial and stay focused on its main goal (business).  But, I think these studies are looking at the tip of the iceberg.  While these conclusions might be all one needs to craft a better business plan, the root causes of these issues (patriarchy, racism, classism, etc.) will not be solved like this.  Indeed, if all we do is change our business strategies without attempting to attack ingrained attitudes, results will be less than spectacular (I’d imagine.).

So, I’d like to have a discussion about this.  Has there been a time when you have felt discriminated against in a salesperson/customer setting?  Do you think it was a conscious or unconscious decision?

I personally have felt the effects of this when I had to get my car towed after two flat tires and a dead battery (seriously….).  I thought I was being overcharged and when I attempted to inquire about the costs, all I got was this roundabout answer that “this car stuff” isn’t something everyone “gets.”  It would be difficult to describe this situation entirely.  But, you know the feeling you get when people are raking you over the coals and there isn’t really anything you can do about it (because they have your car hostage)?  Yeah…I was there.  I’m not sure if this was because I am a woman or because I am car-dumb, but I do know that I don’t like feeling like that.  In a situation like that, I think it is in a business’ best interest to make their customers feel comfortable.  Thoughts?