The Female Economy

Women currently control about $20 trillion in global annual consumer spending, a figure which could climb to $28 trillion in the next five years. Their $13 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same period. In aggregate, women represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined. In Harvard Business Review’s ‘The Female Economy’, Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre investigate why despite women’s dominant buying power, many companies continue to market mostly to men and fail to explore how they might meet women’s needs. In brief, the researchers found that women feel vastly underserved. Despite the remarkable strides in market power and social position over the past century, they still appear to be undervalued in the marketplace and underestimated in the workplace. With more than 12,000 participants in this study, women generally felt that few companies have responded to their need for time-saving solutions or for products and services designed specifically for them. Particularly irksome is the “make it pink” marketing technique. Females currently are decisively involved in a majority of the household purchases, including 94% of home furnishings, 92% of vacations, 91% of homes, and 60% of automobiles.

Empirie / Forschung Gender Sprache Englisch