Market 2 Women

Research finds varied types of creative and messaging on Facebook impacts male and female buying habits in different ways.

 

About one in five people (22 per cent) have been influenced to buy a product or service after they saw an advert, conversation or other information on Facebook, according to research commissioned by Marketing Week and conducted by online survey company Usurv.

 

Conversely, a quarter of people (26 per cent) have also been put off buying something after seeing a conversation or information on Facebook.

 

The ways in which men and women are impacted by brands or conversations about brands on Facebook echoes how the different genders typically shop, according to Usurv’s co-founder Guy Potter.

 

The study found that women are more likely to be impacted by friends’ likes comments or shares about a product or service, with 34 per cent saying this was most likely to influence their purchase decisions, compared with 26 per cent of men.

 

Women tend to ask their friends for advice about products more than men, the study found.

Adverts using tired gender stereotypes are irritating women and making men feel inadequate, research says.

To entice women consumers, many companies just “pink it and shrink it”. However, Yvonne Lin says it’s important to consider women consumers’ preferences, feelings and use of products in a deeper way -- as well as the whole experience. Gender should be another lens through which to view product design -- just as much as ergonomics, function, and aesthetics. That lens certainly not used very much; 71% of women feel their needs are only considered for beauty and cleaning products. Not surprising when you consider that only 11% of industrial designers who come up with products are women.

Are women better advisors? They bring different perspectives, and that could be beneficial for some clients. According to Meg Green, CEO of Meg Green & Associates in Miami, women are more likely to understand and appreciate the full tapestry of their clients' financial lives.

 

A study by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research, released last year, essentially suggested that female psychology is better suited to investing than is male psychology. Female investors, the study found, are more likely to enjoy long-term success because they are more conservative and disciplined, and thus likelier to embrace buy-and-hold investing and to shy away from excessive risk.

 

Other studies back up the report. In 2001, for instance, economists Brad M. Barber and Terrance Odean examined records from a major discount trading firm and found that men were 45% more likely than women to make trades. The result: Women's annual risk-adjusted returns were nearly 1% higher.