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November 12, 2009
50 in 50. #6: Why She Buys
I know I’m getting a lot of value out of a book when I keep bookmarking pages with little Post-It Notes. That means I want to go back and revisit the nuggets of wisdom I found there.
So when I tell you that my copy of Why She Buys contains at least 40 Post-It Notes, you can see how much I liked this book. Not only does the author Bridget Brennan provide compelling statistics about women, “the world’s most powerful consumer,” but she also offers tangible suggestions about how to reach women.
Why should you care about the female consumer? These facts probably won’t surprise you:
- 80 percent of apparel purchases are made by women
- 70 percent of health care decisions are made by women
- 70 percent of travel decisions are made by women
But these statistics may:
- 91 percent of home purchases are influenced by women; 20 percent of home purchases are made by single women
- 52 percent of new vehicle purchases, including trucks, are made by women
- 61 percent of consumer electronics purchases are influenced by women
- 90 percent of women participate in decisions that impact their household’s retirement accounts or investments
Despite their economic power, nearly half of women feel that marketers are not doing a good job connecting with them. Maybe that’s because most of the people at the top of corporations are men (97 percent), as are most chief marketing officers (66 percent) and creative directors (97 percent). And Ms. Brennan uses brain science to demonstrate that men and women do think differently, which means that an ad designed to appeal to men often will turn women off.
What can marketers and communicators do differently to engage their female customers (or employees, for that matter)? Ms. Brennan lays out a comprehensive approach. (You definitely get your money’s worth when you buy this book.) Here are a few highlights:
- Women define achievement differently than men. Men strive to be independent; women strive to be indispensable. As a result, think twice before using competitive messages (“We’re gonna win!”) that won’t appeal to most women.
- Women connect with each other by talking about their feelings and revealing their vulnerabilities. So empathy is a valuable tool to persuade women, as is showing appreciation.
- Women have a higher verbal fluency than men. They focus on the details and will talk about their love of a service or product to their friends. That means that it’s better to lead with the practical benefits of a product, not how it works. It also means using stories to bring your message to life.
This book isn’t perfect (some of the assumptions are a bit simplistic) but it is thought-provoking, practical and a good read. I can offer no higher praise than this: Why She Buys is worth your time and money.
Posted by Alison Davis at November 12, 2009 10:25 AM
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