Marketing to Women: Quick Facts

• Boomer Women and Affluence – One huge, affluent segment wields more spending clout than any other.  Baby-Boomer women. Born between 1946 and 1964, these women represent a portion of the buying public no marketer can afford to ignore.  With successful careers, investments made during the “boom” years, and inheritances from parents or husbands, they are more financially empowered than any previous generation of women.  
  Source:  Mary Brown, Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer – The Baby-Boomer Woman
• Senior women age 50 and older control net worth of $19 trillion and own more than three-fourths of the nation’s financial wealth. 
  Source:  MassMutual Financial Group – 2007
• Fifty-plus American women are the healthiest, wealthiest and most active generation of women in history. 
  Source:  Demographics by Mark Miller
• Of the 743 women of wealth interviewed with at least $3 million in investable assets, 61.2% accumulated their fortunes through corporate employment, their own or a family business or a professional practice.  Only 38.8% of the women had married into or inherited their money.
  Source:  Women of Wealth, 2004, by Russ Alan Prince and Hannah Shaw Group
• High-net-worth women account for 39% of the country’s top wealth earners:  2.5 million of them have combined assets of $4.2 trillion.  More than 1.3 million women professionals and executives earn in excess of $100,000 annually.  43% of Americans with more than $500,000 in assets are female.
  Source:  MassMutual Financial Group – 2007
• Over the next decade, women will control two thirds of consumer wealth in the United States and be beneficiaries of the largest transference of wealth in our country’s history.  Estimates range from $12 to $40 trillion.  Many Boomer women will experience a double inheritance windfall, from both parents and husband.  The Boomer woman is a consumer that luxury brands want to resonate with. 
  Source:  Claire Behar, Senior Partner and Director, New Business Development, Fleishman-Hillard New York
• The more mature luxury consumer places the highest priority in making memories and experiences. They don’t buy things to have more things; they want the experience to go along with it.  Luxury consumers expect superior quality and are extremely discerning. 
  Source:  Pam Danziger, President of United Marketing.
• The 55 to 75 year-old female has seen her role change from homemaker to purchaser of security, convenience and luxury items. 
  Source:  Barbara Kleger, president of 55+ marketing
• Wealthy boomer women are the marquee players in our country’s culture and commerce.   They are educated, have a high income, and make 95 percent of the purchase decisions for their households. 
  Source:  Karen Vogel, The Women’s Congress and co-founder and president of New Generation Event Solutions
• Once the college bills are out of the way and children launch their own households, the discretionary spending power of 50-plus women soars.  They spend 2.5 times what the average person spends.  Women are the primary buyers for computers, cars, banking, financial services and a lot of other big-ticket categories. 
  Source:  Marti Barletta, Primetime Women
• The Baby Boomer Generation has more money, leisure time and technology than any other generation in history.  They not only stay in touch with family and friends but actually continue to pursue their careers while traveling.  Thanks to Wi-Fi, satellite Internet hookups, e-mail and cell phones, baby boomers can continue running businesses from RV’s or  just about anywhere in the United States. 
  Source:  Baby-Boomer Magazine.com
• Affluent women juggle demands of career and family, are concerned about the environment and are discriminating shoppers. 
  Source:  The Affluent Market in the U.S., Dr. Robert Brown and Ms. Ruth Washton
• The number of wealthy women investors in the U.S. is growing at a faster ate than that of men.  In a two-year period, the number of wealthy women in the U.S. grew 68%, while the number of men grew only 38%. 
  Source:  The Spectrum Group
• Affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the Internet during an average month. About half are now considered heavy users of the Internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has declined with this group.
  Source:  Ten Marketing Trends to Watch, Kim T. Gordon, Entrepreneur.com

Statistics

Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to healthcare:

• 91% of new homes
• 66% of Personal Computers
• 92% Vacations
• 80%  Healthcare
• 65%  New cars
• 80%  Bank Accounts
• 93%  Food
• 93% OTC Pharmaceutical s (American women spend about $5 trillion annually)

Women represent the majority of the online market: Digital Divas by the numbers

• 22% shop online at least once a day
• 92% pass along information about deals or finds to others
• 171:  average number of contacts in their email or mobile lists
• 76% want to be part of a special or select panel
• 58% would toss a TV if they had to get ride of one digital device (only 11% would ditch their laptops
• 51% are moms

Source: Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather

Women process information and make purchasing decisions differently than men:

• 59% of women feel misunderstood by food marketers
• 66% feel misunderstood by health care marketers
• 74% feel misunderstood by automotive marketers
• 84% feel misunderstood by investment marketers
• 91% of women in one survey said that advertisers don’t understand them
• 70% of new businesses are started by women
• The average black woman spends 3 times as much on beauty products compared to the average woman
• Women influenced $90 billion dollars worth of consumer electronic purchases in 2007
• 61% of women influence household consumer electronic buying decisions
• Nearly 50% of women say they want more green choices
• 37% are more likely to pay attention to brands that are committed to environmental causes
• 25% of all products in a woman’s shopping cart nowadays are environmentally friendly.  
• When women are aware you support women owned businesses:
  • 79% would try your product or service
  • 80% would solidify their brand loyalty
  • 51% would give a company a second chance if a product or service missed the mark the first time
• Women make more than 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions
• 57% of women gardened within the last year
• 55%  of women spent time reading literature within the last year
• Single women are becoming a more influential category vs. 10 years ago
• In 1998, only 69% of women between 18 and 24 were involved in home electronics purchases.  By 2008, that number has grown to 91%, in part driven by the prevalence of personal electronics such as cell phones and computers
• Over the past 10 years, the number of women 25-34 who were single or living with a significant other increased 8% to 38%

Sports Statistics

• Women are 47.2% of major league soccer fans
• Women are 46.5% of Major League Baseball fans
• Women are 43.2% of fans at NHL games
• Women are 37% of NBA fans
• Women purchased 46% of official NFL merchandise
• Women spent 80% of all sport apparel dollars and controlled 60% of all money spent on men’s clothing
• Women comprise about one-third (34%) of all adult audience for ESPN sport event programs

For More Information on Marketing to the Women’s Market go to this great site: www.sheconomy.com