First written on May 23, 2006 Revised and Updated on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Marketing to Women - Understanding their Psychology Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned - Old Saying Introduction: Logically, women should constitute 50% of the population all over the world. Agreed that in some countries the population ratio of men to women is slightly skewed either in favor of men or women. In Asian countries, women are less, whereas in African countries, the women are more. I do not know the latest position in European countries and USA to comment on this aspect but it can easily be gleaned from the internet by those interested. However, the fact remains that women form a large percentage of the market for any product or service. Not only that, for most products of everyday use, women are the deciders. Even for products like automobiles, women influence the ultimate decision because of the styling aspect. The only area where women played no role in the past was in industrial products. Even in this area, women are moving in slowly and steadily. Emotionality: Unlike men, women are more emotional in buying products, especially in those cases where their beauty or vanity is involved. Characteristics of Women: Women have much higher expectation than men. Let us say you are selling an apartment or a building block to a married couple. The male will be satisfied with the car parking, security, a nice drawing room and the price. Women on the other hand will be more particular with the size of the rooms, the painting, the compound, water, sanitation facilities and the location with regard to traffic. They will also be curious to know the status of potential neighbors and the kind of locality they will be living in. Whatever strata of society they may belong to, women always have higher aspirations than men. Unforgiving: Women are also very unforgiving and revengeful. Some of the greatest wars in the world have been fought because of very beautiful women. In the modern days, we have Lorena Bobbitt's. We had one case in the year 2005 in Kenya. This lady, an African Lorena, used a shaving razor blade (Ouch), while the guy was sleeping, punch drunk.  This guy woke up and was hollering and screaming when he reached the hospital, with blood all over the place. This lady threw the piece away and people had to search for it for the Doctors to stitch it back. Luckily, the piece was found and not a stray dog or cat or bird had picked it up. Risk Averse: If a product or service fails to keep a promise, they will never use it again. Women are more risk averse, which is a contradiction to their basic curious and experimental nature. Women are very guarded and suspicious in unfamiliar surroundings and with unfamiliar people. They have a very high instinctive ability to sense danger. They will not express their opinions or come to conclusions easily. It is this aspect which makes it very difficult to satisfy women customers. You do not know which way they will jump. Patience and ability to handle multiple tasks: Women are generally very good at handling multiple tasks. They can cook, look after the children, teach them at home and also work in an office or factory. Women are more careful about maintenance. They like to keep everything neat and clean. Women are also very careful drivers and take practically no risk. They are so careful, it can be exasperating if you are behind them in another car. Many insurance companies charge a lower premium for accident insurance of cars, if they know that the car is being used exclusively by a woman. Statistics of accidents, anywhere in the world, reveals that most accidents are caused by men who drive after drinking one too many. Probably, one in a million women can be found drunk publicly. Automobile companies developed the power steering for women drivers. The automatic transmission was also developed for women drivers. Jealous: Many ads for products like shaving gel or shaving cream, razor blades, underwear etc., aimed at males, feature beautiful and sexy women. I do not understand as to what they are doing, being there. Women often buy those products for their men. However, if there is an element of crude sex or vulgarity in the message or features a female star or a model their men like, the average women will not respond. Women are jealous of other women, especially if they are beautiful and sexy. However, if it features a male model or actor they like, they will buy. They like subtle messages. Capricious and Selfish: Finally, women are very capricious and more selfish than men. Their survival instincts are very high. 'What is in it for me' is very important to women. For them, their own long term safety and children come first. The husband or the male is generally expendable or considered a necessary nuisance. The male has to bring home the bacon all the time. Summary & Conclusion: Marketing to men and women is different. The situation today is that more and more women are becoming the decision makers, irrespective of the nature of the product. Women, generally, prefer honesty, integrity and ethical behavior. Women are more difficult to please. Women are very difficult to understand. People often say that even God does not understand the behavior of women, though he created them. Any marketing person who does not take women very seriously, will be making the biggest mistake of his or her life. Written  by Madhavan T Gopalachary The views, opinions and interpretations are personal. Sponsorship does not mean that the sponsors endorse them. Editorial Policy © Copyright, Sep-08 . www.madgopes.com . Without prejudice. 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