Female Consumer Trends - Feminised Marketing

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More and more we are seeing companies targeting products and services exclusively to women. 


Why you may ask? 


It's as simple as women are the decision holders in the home and more importantly women are also earning much more than they used to.


According to Euromonitor International, "The purchasing power has created a new category of the so-called "alpha female". It makes them an important, if not the most important consumer group". (Euromonitor 2009)


To elaborate on this further, modern women in this day in age are challenging, ethical, busy, complex of duties (looking after family, holding a full time position, extra responsibilities) and expect more when they make a purchasing decision. Providing a product or service that may have a feminine approach may not simply work. 


Euromonitor analysed the "Key Trends" and "Commercial Opportunities".

Key Trends

• Feminised Marketing
• Embracing the web;
• Sales and Coupons

Commercial Opportunities:

• “Feminise” marketing strategies in terms of design and product purpose and message; 
• Advertise in women's magazines/programmes which are popular with women; 
• Emphasise ethical aspects: environmentally-friendly, ethical working conditions etc. 
• Market to the “frugalista” and the fashion-conscious “recessionista”;
• Focus on an excellent internet presence; 
• Introduce sales, coupons, and other promotional offers at regular intervals and make them easy to use.

As mentioned above, women are increasingly making more decisions in the household. As females are earning more money and making decisions about purchases so too are companies looking at ways of introducing gender-specific marketing towards females. According to research by The Economist from as early as 2004, "women now make or influence 80% of all spending decisions in households".(The Economist 2004)    

"Martha Barletta, author of the book 'Marketing to Women' estimates that women now influence up to 95% of all purchases in the USA."(Barletta.M,2008)

Females being that they are complex characters in that they make decisions around on the multiple roles that they carry such as a wife, mother, career woman, friend, confidant, decision-maker, purchasing decision-maker, team collaborator, worker and not to mention the many other task that are created at any given time. Females are influenced not only by these multiple roles that they may carry but also by her ethical decisions, influences that she may have concerns about, consumption patterns, environmental and financial (such as our GFC).

Companies know that there is an increasingly importance of marketing to female consumers. They are therefore creating marketing strategies, products and services that target exclusively to women and women's needs. This is called "Feminised Marketing." A similar business was set up in Australia, and it calls itself "Splash: the home of SheMarketing:" "According to Splash, "the reason for the need for marketing to females is that women are three consumers in one: they buy for themselves (particularly) in view of the rising number of independent single women), they buy for their families (where the general idea is that women make 80% of all spending decisions), and they are increasingly buying for business (women currently account for over 60% of start-up businesses)." (Splash: the home of SheMarketing)

Purchasing on the web

When we look at online and how this has an effect on the way we purchase and make decisions, recent surveys have indicated that households are managed by women online. According to a BurstMedia 'Online Insights' survey,"69.4% of women cite the internet as their primary source for information required for running their household. Online they find information on family activities, recipes, health information, and entertainment listing. 62.3% of women said that they research products or services online before they purchase them. 51.7% of women surveyed said that the internet is the primary way for keeping in touch with family and friend. They survey showed that women 65 years and over also use the internet; indeed, 70.8% of the 65+ women said that the internet is the primary way they keep in touch with family and friend." (BurstMedia 'Online Insights' survey)

Sales and Coupons

Bargain, promotional offers, sale coupons, sales reduced are making even more of an impact and impression on the female market. Recent surveys have indicated that coupons are increasingly popular amount women. 


According to 'Online Insights' survey by BurstMedia, "32.4% of women are frequent coupon users, 54.3% are occasional coupon users, and 13.3% don't use them. Coupons are mainly used for groceries, but also for beauty products, health care products, fast food and clothing/shoes. The same survey found that coupon use increases with age. 40.6% of respondents aged 65 and over use coupons frequently." (BurstMedia 'Online Insights' survey)

There is one brand that has been enjoying continued success both through the change of financial-decision makers and through the GFC is Apple. According to Sarah Rabia, who writes for Australia Online Magazine "SheMarketing", "Apple is a "female brand, responding to the four codes brands can apply to feminise their business (per "Inside Her Pretty Little Head"):altruism, to make the brand empathetic, aesthetics, to make the brand more attractive, ordered to make the brand organised, and connectivity, to make a rand a community provider." 

Conclusion

When we look at the new consumer trends for feminised marketing, we see that feminised products, services and the online household appears to be a long-term trend even during the GFC downturn. As we look at the online trends, the internet will continue to play a role with females in that they will actively research, review products and services and ask others online for opinions and advice.


The more that we become connected online through social media and through our busy lifestyles, new connections will be made online and speaking with family and friends online rather than picking up a phone or catching up in person, it's only a matter of time before it becomes bigger in that our connectivity improves even more rapidly around the world. 


By Nicole Papadopoulos - 1house (c) 2010 
e: twitteringnicole@1house.com.au w: 1house t:@1house_media @1houseGroup