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| "Women are Easy." Says Who? | ||||||
| Advertising agencies believe that because women watch more television and a wider variety of programming, they are an easier market. Women may not watch as much television as the statement implies, but they do tend to watch a greater variety of programming. Many women will watch a combination of comedy, drama, action shows and movies, and even sports. However, although they may watch a greater variety of programs, that does not mean that they are an easier market, all that means is that they are more open minded about the kinds of programs that they watch. That open mindedness does not make them more gullible, only more accessible. | ||||||
| Women tend to have greater brand loyalty than men do. Take cosmetics for example. Once a woman finds a brand that she likes and works for her, she is likely to stick with that brand regardless of what the commercials she sees say. Women are usually very critical and conscious of the things they like and the things they buy, whereas men are a bit easier to persuade. When you give a man a grocery list, he will go to the store and bring back whatever is on the list, a woman is more likely to actually shop for the best prices and best quality. | ||||||
| Another misconception about women is that they do not have as much spending power as men do. That is not at all accurate. An increasing number of women now have careers and a wide range of financial resources. The man is no longer the financial leader of the home, it is now the woman who often takes care of the bills, the bank accounts, and the pay checks. Labeling women secondary spenders or second class customers is a mistake. | ||||||
| Something more to consider is the increasing number of single mothers in this country. Many women manage to support themselves and their families and are not as willing to part with money as they were in the past. With often only one household income, they tend to be more cautious with their money. I see this in my life daily. My mother is very careful with how much she spends and what she spends it on. She is a working single parent and she rarely sits down for more than an hour a day to watch television. When commercials come on, she usually goes into the kitchen to wash dishes or into the laundry room to fold clothes. | ||||||
| I myself watch a lot of television, but usually flip the channel when a commercial comes on. To me, commercials are a waste of time. Of all of the people that I know, none of them enjoy watching commercials, my female friends hate them especially. As far as I am concerned, women are not an easy market and regarding them as so will only cause the advertising industry to suffer. Women are not the powerless, lower class spenders that advertisers may think. Women have more spending power and less gullibility than advertisers give them credit for, perhaps they will simply need to learn that the hard way. | ||||||
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