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UNDERSTANDING WOMEN!
It’s not an
easy task. It has been always very difficult and tiring task for
opposite sex to understand women. Actually, none of them could
successfully analyze and understood clearly. Those who think
that they finally understood woman, took the decision to not
think about this issue anymore when they suddenly faced the
truth that their findings including rules of relationship do not
work at all. This reality which is true on social and emotional
relationships with women is also an issue in the business life.
The difficulty of solving the “woman equation” becomes a
marketing problem for those companies whose target market and
consumer portfolio include female consumers. This marketing
problem obliges the companies to understand female consumer
behavior to have competitive advantage in the market. So why
ever existed female consumers became a very important marketing
problem for the companies in today’s marketplace?
Reason 1: Women are much stronger now!
Women became
the crucial part of consumer population due to the economic and
social changes occurred in the last twenty years. Women living
in both developed and developing countries became both
economically and socially more active individuals. The first
change occurred is the rapidly increasing rate of working women
within the societies. Consequently, women’s effectiveness in
business life increased and they got their economic
independence. They started to produce and consume more. Second
important change is the retarded marriage cycles. This resulted
in expanding their single life period living in their single
households which consequently means more consumption. The single
household trend is also valid in Turkey.
 Each
single household opened brings more consumption motivations and
patterns. Female consumers became more “consumolics” because of
their longer single life period. The third important change is
the increasing divorce rates in both developed and developing
countries. The increasing rate of divorces led female consumers
return to their previous single life with their economic
independence in their hand. From retail perspective this means
the opening of a new household again and more consumption. As a
last point, in the transition period from large families to
nucleolus family structure, the number of children per family
decreased dramatically. This increase brought a new trend which
is “less children-maximum care and consumption”. This situation
led the families to spend more to their only child.
The changes
listed above led female consumers became much stronger and
potential who were already important actors in consumption
decision making before these changes took place. For example,
the result of researches show that 80 % of retail purchases
decision making in United States is made by female consumers.
The same dominance of female consumers is valid also in Turkey.
Female consumers started to be dominant even in categories which
are believed to be male dominant. For example, 52 % of all new
car purchases are made by female consumers. Moreover, female
consumers play a decisive role in 80 % of purchases in this
category. Female consumers have 45 % share of total purchases in
consumer electronics and they play decisive role in 61 % of all
purchases. Female consumers, who have more complicated and
potential life cycle stages together with more intense
consumption need and motivations, became a very important
consumer population and they started to play an important role
in the success of most companies.
Reason 2: Women are not a segment but a foreign market!
Although
several segment based approaches (segmentation by age, life
stage, life style, need, want, occupation, etc...) implemented
in strategy and tactics formulation of the companies still works
in the market, handling female consumer population as another
segment based on gender would be a crucial mistake in strategy
and tactic formulation. The reason why it would be a mistake to
approach them as another simple segment is their complex nature
and consumer behavior. Their difference is so deep that it
requires handling this population with a different and more
sophisticated approach. So, what are the basic differences?
Female consumers have basic physiological and psychological
differences compared to males. These differences cause female
consumers to behave differently as consumers and to have
different factors affecting the decision making process.
Female brain is
more emotional and active
The most
important physiological difference between female and male
consumers lies in the brain. They have different brain
structures. Their brains show both physical and functional
differences. The differences can be summarized in three-four
points. First of all, the system which is responsible for the
production of emotions (Limbic System), the region where
emotions, fear, aggression are produced (Amygdala Region) and
similarly, the region which is
 the
hub of emotions and memories (Hippocampus Region) are larger in
female brain compared to males. These physiological differences
cause women to react more emotionally towards life events and
give them the capability to recall more details than males.
There are more differences. Women have also difference in the
functionality of the brain. They have more brain cells in the
left part of their brains which is the source of expression
capability, speech and perception. These activities are handled
mostly in the left part of the brain and women have more cells
at this part. This shows that they have superiority on these
activities compared to men. As a last point, the region (Corpus
Callosum) which is responsible for the connection of left and
right brain (right brain is mostly active in handling emotions
and senses) is larger in women compared to men. This difference
gives them the capability to think multiple things at once and
to create meanings of their perceptions much easier than men.
These physiological and psychological differences between women
and men create differences on their social and emotional lives.
Men are ego-centric while women are
socio-centric.
The
psychological and social behavior of women is different mainly
because of their basic physiological differences and social
codes that they acquired since their childhood. Success for men
is independence and to be unbeatable, while success for women is
to be indispensable. Men ride for competition to be successful
while women search for socialization, support, sharing and
family environments to feel and to be perceived as successful.
Physiological characteristics make women more open to share
feelings and they can do it more easily than men. While to share
their feelings, being open, empathy and talking is a merit for
women, this is a sign of weakness for men. Social relationship
means activity for men while it’s meaning for women is talking
and sharing. Women are sensitive to details while men seek for
“big picture”.
The dominant
position of female consumer in retail industry and their
fundamental differences in terms of physiology and psychology
proves us why we need to handle this important part of the
consumer population as a different and potential market but not
as a single segment. In this perspective, those companies who
did not start the process of re-adjusting their marketing and
sales functions both strategically and tactically, should start
doing it right now in order to acquire, retain these potential
consumers and transform them to the social representatives of
the brand.
Those companies, who will take global female culture as a frame
of reference and adjust their strategies according to the local
market conditions and culture, will get competitive advantage in
the market.
In order to
acquire, retain and transform these invaluable customers into
the social representatives of the brand, companies should plan,
implement and execute female-customized strategies and tactics.
From marketing perspective, it will be useful to analyze the
to-do list in terms of product management, marketing
communications and customer relations. When we talk about
products in the female consumer context, the first thing which
comes to our mind is the design and color differences. For
example, cell phones and laptops with many design and color
alternatives in consumer electronics category. Although visual
factors and elegance are important factors in female consumer
decision making, these are not the whole thing. Actually, they
are the small part of the total system. In other words, color on
itself cannot be a strategy towards female consumers. The common
characteristic of market dominating products is their ability to
solve the common daily life problems of female consumers. The
success is inevitable for those products which solve these
female original problems of daily life because problem solution
is everything for women. In order to succeed this, companies to
make real life-research and observation. It is required to enter
into the female consumers’ daily life, to observe and to
identify the problems they face during their routine. Another
important point is to employ female professionals in the product
management positions. It will create a negative impact on female
consumers if they spend much effort for using the product. In
this perspective, optimization of simplicity and functional
benefits are the most crucial factors. While men, with their
ego-centric structures, feel pleasure when they deal with the
solution of complex structures and functionality, solution based
benefits are the most
 critical
decision making factors for female consumers. It is a very good
example to mention an example from razor products which is known
to be male consumer dominant category. Gillette brand launched
Venus razors for female consumers. They produced Venus razors
which are female anatomy friendly with multi skin alternatives
in order to extend their market into female consumer population.
They succeeded to create a very large female consumer portfolio
for the company without harming their male consumers. This is a
very good example of market extension strategy. As a result, if
we talk about product management in terms of female consumer
targets, it is required to employ female professionals in
product management and to identify the problems of female
consumers via real life research and observation to create
killer solutions for them.
Although it is
very important to manage products and offers compliant with the
female brain structure and functionality, another important
point to be stress out from marketing perspective is how the
products, services and campaign should be communicated to the
female targets. Here we are talking about marketing
communications. Male and female consumers differ mostly in their
reactions and behavior when they receive marketing messages. Due
to their physiological and psychological differences, there are
two important points which should be stress out when
communicating with female consumers. The first point is related
with the female data processing. The communication and
connection between left and right brains of female consumers is
four times stronger than male consumers. So, female consumers
associate each word, sentence or perception with some emotions.
This means that while men react more to the concrete data in
marketing communications, female consumers experience also
emotional consequences of that data in their brain. This is why,
when communicating with female consumers, messages should not
only contain data but at the same should reflect some emotional
dimensions. What we talk about emotional dimension is not
happiness, sadness or fear but mostly emotional benefits and
meanings. One of the best examples on the subject is the
MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign which is on-air also in
Turkey. This campaign is a very good one which shows how to
embed emotional aspects into the logical left brain data. It is
for sure that the campaign will produce positive results also in
Turkey where an important portion of cardholders are female
consumers. The second important point on the subject is the
persuasion capability of the message. Female consumers always
need the confirmation and sharing of their decisions due to
their original characteristics. The research on the subject
shows that female consumers conduct a comprehensive research
before their purchasing decision and apply to the opinion of
close circle and other people. On the other hand, they keep
their sharing after the purchase decisions in order to
rationalize their decision. The cognitive dissonances they
experience force them to share with others and get their
confirmation. From marketing perspective this means that
messages imposing trust, messages including rationalization of
their purchases and usage of opinion leaders or right
celebrities boost the
 effectiveness.
One of the best examples on the subject is the Pepsi’s campaign
in Turkey which is called “Pepsi Yaşatır Seni”. The brand used
one of the most trustful figure and celebrity of the female
population, Seda Sayan, in the promotional campaign. When we
look at the topic from brand management perspective, there are
much to say mostly negative but it is not the place here. On the
other hand, it will be useful to mention why it is a very right
decision to use Seda Sayan in this campaign. This celebrity has
a very positive image within the female society and she creates
“one of us” feeling among the female consumers. It was a right
decision to use this sincere and trustful positioned lady in
such a lottery based promotional campaign. Female consumers
responded positively to the campaign because of the message
because message bringer was a sincere and trustful person. This
reaction is compliant with their physiological and psychological
nature and structure. It still requires a discussion about how
the campaign’s leverage power will be and what will be the
consequences of this decision for the brand identity and image.
After the
evaluation of the marketing to women subject from product
management and marketing communications perspective, now it will
be useful to analyze the subject from customer relations
perspective. While product management and marketing
communication efforts are important to acquire female consumers,
effective “customer relations” help companies to retain and
transform them into the social representatives of the brand.
Based on their brain structures, female consumers share more,
they are more attentive, can catch the
 details
more effectively and remember details better than male
consumers. From marketing perspective this means that whether
they are positive or negative, women never forget brand
experiences and remember all its details. The meaning of this
reality is very clear especially we consider the effect of
social media on the consumer population and the connectivity
within the society. The attitude of female consumers towards the
brand does not mean an individual judgment but instead it is a
collective and social one. In this perspective, there are some
critical points which should be considered in the context of
female customer relations. The first point is the “promise”.
Female consumers have good memories and they remember details of
each case. In addition to this, stability and consistency is
everything for them. Anything which threatens the balance and
consistency make women react emotionally. Female brain is
programmed to keep the stability and consistency on her life.
Any reverse case produces negative reactions by women. From
marketing perspective this means that there should be a
consistency between pre-sales and post-sales situation. Promise
should be kept and expectations should be satisfied. The second
important point is “help”. Again based on the differences stated
in the beginning, while asking for help in women’s life is a
smart thing, the same thing means weakness in men’s life. Female
consumers will seek help in any case where stability and
consistency is in danger. They ask for help to their close
circle in cases related with social and emotional events while
they apply to companies when something needed about products and
services. At this point, the important thing to do from customer
relations perspective is to alter their perception regarding the
customer service as sincere and effective. Female consumers
expect human voice and face instead of automated systems when
they communicate with companies. Spending so much effort on call
centers by dialing so many numbers but getting nothing for
several minutes can alienate them for sure. They are more
fragile than men in such cases. So, for setting up a female
consumer friendly customer relations system there two words
which summarize the whole principles: “human contact” and
“sincerity”.
The conditions
of the markets become more and more difficult each day. Those
companies whose target market or current customer portfolio
include female consumers should take global female culture as a
frame of reference and adapt this culture into the realities of
the market. The companies, who will look at the market from this
perspective, will have better chance for success.
The future of
many companies in the market is dependent to the opinion of
female consumers.
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