Who would have thought that Women would be a driving force in the market? Well, according to the article in Business Week titled “I am Woman, Hear Me Shop” women have emerged as a potent force in the market. The article states that although women make less money than their counterparts--78 cents for every dollar a man gets, they have a much higher influence because they make 80% of all buying decisions in the home. This is causing marketers to change the way they market their products to women. Many are switching from TV ads to women's magazines and spots on TV shows like Oprah and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. And companies like Home Depot are now beginning to target women by offering classes that teach them how to do home repairs.
I think it is a smart move for companies to gear their advertising more toward women, especially since women are becoming key-players in the professional world today. (Although it will probably take more effort on behalf of companies to try to figure out what women want!)
2 comments:
I'm getting annoyed at the popularity of this topic in the legacy media this winter (no offense Lana).
What percentage of buying power in the home was controlled by women 20 years ago? My guess is something fairly close to 80%. So, I just don't think this is a new issue. I wonder why it is getting rehashed so much this winter?
Also, the "... women make less money than their counterparts--78 cents for every dollar a man gets..." is a bad statistic that the media keeps repeating in the hope that it will become a good one. It is true that on average women make less than men. But, it is also true that women (on average) have less skills than men, have less experience (on average) than men, and choose occupations (on average) with less physical risk than men. When you adjust for those (hey hey, regression analysis is worth something) there is no evidence of a wage disparity. Having said that, I also think that women make some life-plan choices more intelligently than men (on average), the most important of which is working more for people they know and less for strangers.
Note to self: "Next time I see this article rehashed in the press, resist writing about it on Dr. Tufte's weblog."
I was under the impression that our female counterparts were being grossly oppressed in the workplace, but the rebuttal by Dr. Tufte is one I have never heard before and I will now consider myself informed. I think if the stats quoted by Lana are true, then we are now moving towards greater equality among men and women in the workforce, wage-wise and in most other respects.
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