Consumers Underestimate How Often They Dine Out by 40%, Facteus Reports

Men Overstate Apparel Spending by 28%; Convenience Store Gender Gap Nearly Doubles in Verified Transaction Data

BEAVERTON, Ore., June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Facteus, a data technology company that turns real-world transaction data into answers for finance, strategy, and marketing leaders, has released Consumers Say One Thing. Their Spending Says Another., a new report comparing what consumers say about their spending to what verified purchase behavior shows they actually do. The analysis pairs a survey of 1,050 U.S. consumers with transaction data from more than 200 million consumer credit and debit cards on the Facteus platform.

Across restaurants, convenience stores, and apparel, consumers consistently underestimate how often they buy and overestimate how much they spend – creating blind spots for businesses that rely on survey data to size markets, benchmark competitors, and target customers.

Key findings:

• Consumers underreport dining frequency by 40%. Respondents said they dine out about five times per month; transaction data shows seven. Women underreported by nearly 50%, men by 30%.
• Restaurant spending is overstated by 50–60%. Survey respondents claimed roughly $200/month in restaurant spending. Actual spending is closer to $137. A reported $55 gender gap collapses to $8 in transaction data.
• Apparel shows a clear gender reversal. Men self-report more frequent purchases and higher spending, but women actually outspend them ($148 vs. $145) and buy 16% more often. Survey data alone would steer marketing toward the wrong segment.
• The convenience store gender gap nearly doubles. Surveys suggested men visit 26% more often than women. Transaction data shows the real gap is 49% – a rare case where surveys understate a real behavioral difference.
• Millennials outspend Gen Z on apparel by 30% ($152 vs. $117), a gap meaningfully larger than the 21% implied by surveys. Most other generational gaps shrink or disappear when measured against transactions.

"Decisions based on incomplete data aren't truly data-driven," said Phil Fox, VP of Insights, Facteus. "Surveys capture what consumers think they do. Internal sales data captures what they do at your business. Transaction data shows their verified behavior across the broader market. And when those three views disagree, that is where the real opportunities are hidden."

The survey was fielded by UserEvidence to 1,050 U.S. debit or credit card users ages 18–45, across regions, incomes, and genders. Transaction data was drawn from the Facteus platform, which captures approximately 15% of total U.S. card spend.

About Facteus

Facteus transforms anonymized, privacy-compliant card data from more than 200 million consumer cards into near-real-time visibility into how people actually spend across brands, competitors, channels, and markets. Investors, restaurants, retailers, agencies, and consumer brands rely on Facteus to make faster, more confident decisions based on what consumers do – not just what they say. Learn more at facteus.com.

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SOURCE Facteus