By : Putu Ikawaisa Mahatrisni
(Senior Research Executive, MarkPlus Insight)


Marketeers August 2010

Women as the Largest Consumer 

The anatomy of the New Wave Culture places three subcultures as important parts that every marketer need to be familiar with. The three subcultures include youth, women, and Netizen. After discussing the youth subculture in the first quarter of 2010, the youth subculture is said to have a great effect in influencing the mind of the market, compared to the seniors. Their ability to influence the market can be seen by how they react to new products, how they influence their peers, and the values that they hold in every youth segment.

After understanding the youth subculture (Marketeers, March 2010), the second subculture that will be discussed in the 2nd quarter of the year is the women subculture. In this discussion, we will discuss how women are seen to dominate, play a more active role, and are becoming more heard, pushing the men aside.

What does pushing the men aside mean? Purchasing decisions were once taken by men. Men were seen as the decision maker, especially in a family. It turns out that this role is shifting to the women’s side.

Women are perceived to be different than men not only because of their gender, but as well as their character, behavior, wants and personalities. Generally, both men and women have their own characteristics. Because of women’s attractiveness, many literatures are written not only to understand their character and personality, but also to discuss what their anxiety and desires are.

A couple of literatures that discusses women and their consumer behavior pattern include Women Want More: how to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest Fastest-Growing market by Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Syre that discusses what women want in general. Through a research that was done through the internet, a segmentation was made to American women based on their needs and wants. In general, the most important values for women are related to their needs for attention and love; health; honesty; and emotional harmony. The book divides women into 6 archetypes (fast tracker, pressure cooker, relationship-focused, fulfilled empty nesters, managing on her own and making ends meet). This segmentation is based on two dimensions, marital status and their actual economic status.

A full version of this article in Bahasa Indonesia can be read in our August 2010 edition of Marketeers.