For a limited edition of sneakers, it is not uncommon for men to preorder online or to queue to draw lots in a retail store.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Behavioral differences between the sexes can be a sensitive subject. Whenever you talk about men and women, you need to meticulously parse your words lest you find yourself propagating stereotypes.

One such deeply rooted stereotype, related to marketing, is that you can almost forget men as potential consumers and big spenders. According to this myth, men are a long last on a ranking of who spends the most money, preceded by women, children, old people, dogs and cats.

In some areas this is clearly untrue. Depending on their areas of interest and preoccupations, men and women do tend to have very different priorities in managing their money.

In fact, these days men are demonstrating increasing sophistication in how they spend.

"Before the advent of the internet and social media, because of geographical constraints the consumption habits of major cities in the hinterland and coastal areas were probably quite different," says Guo Xin, a marketing professor at Beijing Technology and Business University.

"Now that social networks have flattened our world, everyone sees the same information on TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat. You can now see synchronicity in fashion trends across the country, especially for men."