Canadian Marketing Blog

Have we really come that far?

My mother was a single mom with two young kids. It was the 1970’s and she had to face the consequences of gender inequality. Life for her wasn’t easy. Back in those days, women needed their husband’s approval in order to get a credit card and men weren’t obligated to pay alimony or child support. I can remember the countless number of times my mother was “ripped off” by car dealers, harassed in the workplace and taken advantage of by lawyers and other so called professionals. This blog isn’t about my mom (although she deserves a blog just for her). It’s about women’s spending power and the gender inequality still recognizable today.

Fast forward to 2008. We have certainly progressed over the years but we’re not there yet. Did you know women still earn only 78 cents on the dollar compared to men yet women make over 80% of all household buying decisions?

The catalyst for this blog is based on an experience I had this year when purchasing new appliances for my home. Like most women, I did my research. I found a company offering the appliances I wanted for less money than the competition. I was excited to make my purchase and asked my boyfriend to accompany me to the store. Let me recount the customer experience I had at this particular store. As soon as we entered, the male sales person quickly introduced himself to my boyfriend. I introduced myself to him and asked him questions to which he answered to my boyfriend. If the price wasn’t such a steal, I would have walked right out the door. The deal was closed. The sales person wrote up all of the paper work, turned to my boyfriend and asked “how will you be paying for this today?” I was furious. What made him think the purchases weren’t mine for the house that I purchased myself? I whipped out my bank card and placed it in front of him with conviction. I wanted to tell him to read Marti Barletta’s book “Marketing to Women” so he could see how immense women’s purchasing power actually is. We have large wallets. Women account for 53% of investment purchases, 55% of consumer electronics, 60% of home improvements and 60+% of new car purchases.

Who is better at demonstrating gender inequality and alienating women? NOooooBODY.

Wow, that sounds like an anachronistic experience - or it should be at least! I've discovered that women are much "smarter" shopers then men. Women do the research, know the good deals, actually shop. Men just go to the store and buy. They may have the money - 22 cents more per dollar - but they sure don't know how to capitalize on that money like women do.

I went for lunch the other day with a good friend. She's a successful female executive who knows her stuff.

She was treating me for lunch and gave her credit card when we got the tab. What blew my mind was when the check was returned, they gave it to me to sign.

Last time I checked, I didn't look like a 'Lisa'. So not only were they ignorant but stupid as well.

I've had the same experience when making major purchases. I had to practically grab the car salesguy's collar and say, "HEY, *I* am the one buying the car here!"

I can relate to much of your post on many levels. I too was raised by my single mother who faced similar challenges to yours.

We actually fired a real estate agent because he treated me as the secondary purchaser - my husband and I are equal partners - and both of us had an equal say and contribution to the final purchase.

To Sulemaan's point, I can't count how many times I've paid for a meal when in the company of my husband and/or a group including adult males and the bill was handed back to one of them. And for those of you thinking my name is a bit gender-neutral, my middle name is Lisa and it's on some of my ID/credit cards too!

Hey Jennifer. It's crazy that this still happens. I wrote a related post about gender trends in the workforce a while back. All the signs show that businesses better re-focus their marketing and customer service to women. Those that don't are in trouble.

Check it out:

http://hernaturehisnurture.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/the-androgynous-mindset/