Marketing Myths About Women Debunked
In the world of advertising, stereotypes abound. Men are domestically challenged; women choose cars by color; seniors don't know squat about the Internet, etc. Most themes that drive marketing decisions have been used for years without regard to changes in contemporary society, and this has never been more true than with ads geared towards women. Gross assumptions remain in the advertising subconscious, especially the myth that women don't know much about money and investing.
Girls Just Wanna Make Money
That may have been true 50 years ago, but women have changed. With many male-dominated industries hit hard by layoffs, and the male unemployment rate rising to 11 percent at one point during the recent “mancession," women are increasingly becoming the primary decision maker for consumer purchases in a household – up 4 percent between 2006 and 2010, while men’s consumer decisions decreased by the same amount. According to Stephanie Holland of She-Conomy: A Guy’s Guide to Marketing to Women, women make 85 percent of overall consumer purchases, including technology and cars. They also make the final decision on 91 percent of new home purchases, 92 percent of vacations, 89 percent of bank accounts and 65 percent of new cars, according to Holland.
