What Women Think About When They Shop

In Big Purchases, Women Are More Rational Buyers Than Men

Jul 14, 2009

Men are more emotional about big purchases than women are but both want products that meet their expectations more than products that are easy to use.

Women make more informed and less emotional purchasing decisions than men do, especially when it comes to big-ticket items such as kitchen appliances and home-entertainment electronics. Because women see appliances primarily as tools to get things done they're more likely to keep emotions out of the decision, according to a survey sponsored by New York-based product designer Smart Design, LLC.

Men shoppers more emotional about impressing friends

Men judge products with emotional considerations foremost in mind such as if, and how, the product and its features can impress their friends. The loud and clear message to marketers: the overriding importance of seeing your products through the eyes and minds of the people you're targeting.

"Too many vendors still get it wrong when it comes to things that different customers value. Especially when it comes to high-tech products" said Robert Hamilton, a marketing manager at Symantec and veteran at HP and NetApp. "When your outreach is guided by what a piece of technology can do, rather than why a specific customer would need it or want it, and exactly why, you're bound to be misguided," he said in an interview about marketing products to different customers.

The survey revealed that more than anything, consumers want products that meet their expectations. And it may not depend on how user-friendly the product is. When a product is not easy to use, according to the findings, proper setting of expectations can increase satisfaction by almost 60%. Consumers who did research and found out about various brands and product were more likely to be satisfied with their purchases. The message for manufacturers: make your information readily accessible and available.

Products designed to meet expectations are most valued

This was shown to be especially true for more complex devices such as digital cameras. Most important to satisfaction for men or women purchasers was the fact that getting quality photos was more important than a camera that was easy to use. Both men and women who admitted difficulty using the cameras expressed high levels of satisfaction with the product if the photos met their quality expectations.

"People want features and benefits that meet expectations even more than they want a product that's easy to use," said Gary Shapiro, former president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), during a conversation about the survey results. CEA is the leading trade association in the consumer technology industry and producer of the International Consumer Electronics Show, the world's largest annual event for consumer technology.

"These findings have significant implications for many products, from kitchen appliances to consumer electronics," said Vicki Matranga of International Housewares Association, a leading trade group. "This is especially important as higher technology gets designed into more household products," she said in an interview about Smart's findings.

The survey asked more than 700 people how satisfied they were with recent purchases. They had recently purchased a wide variety of products ranging from cameras and home entertainment electronics to dishwashers and ovens. More important to satisfaction is having expectations met, said the respondents.

The copyright of the article What Women Think About When They Shop in Consumer Goods Manufacturers is owned by Stan DeVaughn. Permission to republish What Women Think About When They Shop in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.