Female vs Male... The Gender Differences in Buyer Behaviour....

Admittedly it is quite easy to see the differences between a female and a male.  However it is now relevant to discover the differences between genders when it relates to Buyer behaviour.  It is necessary to explore what influences a man and a woman to buy a product or service and what appeals primarily to them.  Marketers can not promote to men the same way they do to women due to the fact that both genders are "different biologically, psychologically, and socially," (talentzoo 2010).  Therefore to sell products to both sexes accurately, they need to consider a range of different techniques.

Firstly marketers take into consideration the issues of femininity and masculinity which play a huge part in society today.  These are also considered strong aspects of identity and self concept.  Before marketers construct promotional campaigns they need to identify the different attributes/traits that are associated with both men and women, which ultimately groups them into either gender.  For example the most stereotypical traits that males are known for are; Brave, competitive, aggressive, active and strong.  Whilst women on the other hand are usually stereotyped as being; sensitive, gentle, caring and emotional.  Advertisers will use these stereotypical traits to create products and marketing material which appeal to a certain gender

According to Solomon et al., (2010) the reason there,  is a difference in gender buyer behaviour is that many products are sex-typed, which leads to differences in gender buyer decisions, as a product usually holds feminine or masculine attributes which consumers can often associate with one gender or the other.  Marketers are the main reason why products are usually sex-typed, for example; colour coded pink baby toys and princess play houses hold the feminine attribute, which therefore will not usually appeal to a men  This also occurs with major brand names, many names containing alphanumerics (Formula 409 and Clorox 2) are assumed to be quite technical therefore assumed to be masculine.  There is also a gender difference which influences the things consumers may buy.  Studies show that men tend to buy instrumental and leisure items whilst women will tend to buy symbolic and self expressive goods.

Marketers usually discover that alternative methods may need to take place when a potential customer is male rather than female for example the use of colour in a promotion, advertising and packaging can all create and present a gender message to consumers.  Colours in adverts usually identify what gender it is aimed at.  Light pink, lilacs and reds are often aimed for women, whilst men usually relate to royal blues and greens.  In 1984 Schiebe and Condry examined different advertisements according to product type and found major gender differences in the values promoted in adverts.  For women, the promotions emphasised beauty and youth whilst with the men it was upon value ambition and physical strength.
Here are some examples of this:

This is an average advert aimed for women.  It includes both the usual emphasis on beauty and youth.  The product is based around this also.  By using an older women looking younger adds to appeal of beauty and youth, this advert would not have the same effect if it had an image of a wrinkly old women.

This advert is a classic example of a mans advert.  It shows strength through the use of a healthy looking model, who is muscly and young. The use of the sea also indicates health and strength.  The blue colours also appeal to the males.  By using a young model it tries to appeal to men as this is the type of person most men inspire to be like.

According to nielsenwire (2009) marketers who wish to appeal to women effectively, the need to get product design, packaging, pricing, branding and messaging correct.  They also need to understand how the female subconscious mind receives and processes information and directs behaviour.  Marketers also need to understand that women have better memories for more detailed information than men do however men tend to have better spatial ability and ability to build systems.  There are also many other factors/implications that advertisers need to consider these are:

For women the main implications are as followed:

1) Adverts are often more detailed

2) Women appreciated very fine distinctions such as; five different variations of shampoo.

3) Women like a collaborative conversational style dialogue

4) Women preferred strong colours and evocative images

5) Girls prefer more feminine qualities in an advert such as; soft music.

Here are some examples of adverts which appeal to women, due to many of these reasons:

The main implications for a male may include:
1) Adverts usually focus on one main object
2) Men usually pick up on one or two very obvious kinds of cues.
3) Men will need to be shown the big picture as they think in a more macro way.
4) Men are less likely to process complex metaphors.
5) Men enjoy humour in adverts and are usually more crude and aggressive.
6) Sex in adverts sell to men
7) Men find a 'chatty' style in adverts annoying.  They prefer hard data and concise language.
8) Men do not really respond to any colours and images seem irrelevant.
Here are some examples of adverts which appeal to most men:

So what is the reason behind these differences?
This part identifies scientifically the reasoning behind why buyer behaviour is different for both genders.  So here goes... Firstly the hormones each human has is responsible for the development of the body and brain.  The testerone in a person influences the growth of the body halves and brain hemispheres.  A Person can either develop a bigger left body half known as an E Type of develop a bigger right body half known as an S-type.  Every human is either born one or the other and normally stays this way all through life.

So how does this relate to gender differences?

Well... Firstly S Type people are systematises, a person like this are usually characterised by their small spectrum of interests and a high attentiveness for details.  These types of people are usually males.  Whereas an E-type person is usually a woman.  The E stands for Empathics.  This means that the consumers with this type are able to identify with a large amount of defined human emotions.  It also means that the perception and understanding of cognitive and emotional process with another person is good.  This leads to interests and other factors being different to that of an S Type person.  Therefore these are the ultimate reasons why genders behave how they do.  Due to how we were developed, our buyer behaviours are based from our brain core, when we were born.  Things that appeal to women may not appeal to men due to these facts.

Can You Think of Any Gender Differences?

Next Is The Charity Assignment...

So with a new day, brings a new assignment.  This time it is based around Charity, which to be honest, does not sound too scary.  But ofcorse this means Research again....

Firstly, it would only be right of me to explain the actual assignment to you, well actually there is three assignments involved in this.  The first one is for the module 'Understanding the Customer'  whilst another is for 'The Role of Marketing in Business'  and then finally the last one is for 'Effective Modern Marketing Communications.'  The main aspect based around these three assignments was charitable giving.  The first assignment we completed was to gather Primary and Secondary research based upon giving to charity.  The second assignment was to raise a certain amount of money for a chosen charity and finally the third assignment was to create a presentation based on all the marketing techniques which we used during this process.  But before we could actually move onto the second and third pieces, we had to gather a general basis on Charitable Giving and this is what I discovered through research:

1) General information about Charities -

• Charitable giving is becoming increasingly popular within society today, due to a majority of charities having a number of awareness and fundraising campaigns. Therefore around two thirds of adults in 2010 donated to charity, with nearly half of them donating regularly throughout the whole year, (mintel 2010). 
• Stated by charitycommission (2011) there are more than 180,000 registered charities in England and Wales which in total generate more than £52 billion income.  However according to recent research of charitable giving, donations are now down due to the recession. 
• Charitycommission (2009) suggests that 56% of charities have reported that they have been and are currently affected by the economic downturn.  Even though many consumers are committed to donating and are making plans to donate in the future, (Mintel 2010).

2) Information on Charitable Giving - To complete this task it was important that I used different research techniques which included a variety of both Primary and Secondary research.  I used focus groups, mintel, TGI and many others to discover different things about charitable giving this is what was discovered:

Firstly, it was easy to discover that males were less likely to donate than females.  Using Charities Aid Foundation (2010) its states that women aged between 45-64 are the most likely to donate to charity.  Nfpsynergy (2006) also showed that 28% of single women compared to 18% of single men would have given to charity within the last month. This was also supported by the focus groups which were held.  It was also proven that females were more likely to donate more on a regular basis.  Within the focus groups which were held one female said "I give £2 a month" whilst a male said "I don't give very often."  This again is supported by TGI (2007) where 54.7% of women and only 45.3% of men have donated over £5 to charity within the last 12 months. 

The differences between gender charitable giving was also the fact that men preferred to give to large well known charities such as; comic relief and Cancer Research as they like to see where their money is going and who it is helping.  Whilst females prefer the smaller charities, “when I see lesser known charities doing fundraising I like to help.”  This is due to women being more trustworthy than men.  TGI (2007) supports this as Cancer Research UK was the charity with the most donations, 18% of consumers would donate to them.  It was also discovered that medical and children charities were the most popular within society and both receive the most funding.

Females in both groups were motivated to donate mostly by the emotive advertising on the television, usually relating to children and animals.  When asked which charities do you give to and why? A female expressed that “those adverts on TV always get me, with the starving dogs and abused children,” whilst other female members agreed. This is shown within the TGI (2007) where a 64% of women donated to NSPCC due to the emotive adverts compared to only 36% males.  An example is shown here:

Whilst the male respondents preferred the factual advertisements where they were given genuine information about the charity and what it does and also cartoons rather than the use of realistic people.  A good example of a male orientated charity advert is:

Both genders are mainly motivated to donate due to personal experiences whether they had previously suffered or had known someone who had.  Only a little number of people would donate for religious reasons.

According to TGI (2007) the biggest age group to donate £5 or more was 65+ whilst the lowest band was 15-34.  The focus groups suggested that over 30s would donate monthly and regularly whilst students said “I couldn’t really say how often I give, it depends on my mood and if I have any money at the time.”  Another fact which I discovered using Nfpsynergy (2007) is that single women and couples with no children give the most amount of money to charity due to the fact that they have bigger disposable incomes.  Finally a surprising fact which I discovered was that although higher income households give a larger total amount to charities on average, its the lower income households which are more generous.  By this it means that a low income household will give a higher proportion of their income than people with more money.

Gather Some More Facts: http://www.nfpsynergy.com/includes/documents/cm_docs/2008/w/who_gives_to_charity_updated.pdf

In contrast to the large number of people who donate to charity due to goodwill or due to the fact that  many have been personally affected by it, I also discovered through this research that there are many selfish reasons why people give to charity.  Many people would perceive a charitable person in a good way and therefore this could lead to an ego issue, which relates to personality and self concept.  By this I mean, many people feel the main reasons they give to charity is the fact that "it makes them feel good," and "people preceive them as being charitable, nice and kind."  This ironically leads to many cases of charitable giving becoming a selfish act to make a person feel or look good amongst society.  Many people like to be perceived as kind and thoughtful, which is based around self image which does not actually relate to helping a charity.  If people have reasons such as guilt, social pressure and to impress the opposite sex which makes them give to charity, then this really suggests that a person actually is not naturally generous or charitable.

Our group 'Amity' helped raised money for 'Children with Lueakemia' we raised £715.30 through many different methods such as; ticket sales, silent auctions and online donations.  We held an event called 'Paint it Red' at 'The Wycombe Academy of Music and Arts,' which was a huge success... So all I can say now is.... WELL DONE GUYS!!

Why Don't You Give A Pound or Two??