Are we missing the wood from the trees? Gender differentiation in the consumer electronics market place – what Oprah can teach us all!
For all the very complex consumer segmentation models used by a lot of brands we have to increasingly ask if we are paying adequate attention to the most important and clearly most under-represented segment inside the consumer electronics market. I do not mean youth targets, but instead the largest segment of all, females. They represent at least 30% of the decision influence inside families (US and even PRC) and if we assume they are also about 50% of the singles market this means that they are at least 45% of all the influencer targets. The carriers and other organizations such as healthcare providers understand this. We often see from traditional technology brands no more than a tacit and visual recognition of them as influencers.
The key cornerstone of the question ‘do we treat them differently?’ is based on two interconnected variables. Do they matter and what do they need that is different. Well, the volume of single female laptop or desktop purchasers in either the mature US or developing PRC markets argues yes, as obviously does the influence number they and their partner tell us about inside the family setting. Look at this chart for their influence in the family technology purchase.
With nearly thirty percent of the family influence being female the question now becomes can we adequately differentiate marketing to this target in order to get their attention and preferences?
The chart below shows some significant differences in how to communicate by gender and effectively discriminate for each of the two groups. Some differences exist, but are not large enough to warrant significant differences in communications. Others as listed really are and we have included some recommendations for how best to do this.
In this situation:
- Focus on differentiated female based messaging and content in the office supply stores (visuals, messages, content)
- Build newspaper inserts around the above
We so frequently ignore the obvious choices in front of us. Ignoring the female demographic is a perfect example of this simple opportunity. It does not always demand complete separation of activities, however it does involve both a recognition of the need (influence in purchasing) and some attentiveness to the associated needs and differences that matter.
In the example below for PRC the differences are so subtly it may not be worth investing in differently.
