Men & Women & Money
For a long time, marketers and retailers have operated under the assumption that women control the purse strings.
Women make 80% of all purchasing decisions in a family, went the cliché.
But that may not be so. From this weekend's WSJ:
"It's very hard to get to the bottom of the numbers," says Maddy Dychtwald, co-author of "Influence: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better," published last year with the claim that "women are responsible for 83 percent of consumer purchases in the United States." Ms. Dychtwald adds, "This is muddy terrain."
In addition to having murky origins, the number appear to be wrong. Several recent surveys suggest that men have nearly equal say on spending, and that when men and women live together, both participate in spending decisions. In a survey conducted last year of nearly 4,000 Americans 16 and older by Futures Co., a London consulting firm, just 37% of women said they have primary responsibility for shopping decisions in their household, while 85% said they have primary or shared responsibility. The respective figures for men were similar: 31% and 84%.
That sort of makes sense, when you think about it. It's a glimpse into a successful long-term relationship, in which each party is convinced that he or she is really in charge.
But how did the 80% figure come about in the first place? As usual, wishful thinking:
What gave rise to the 80% figure, marketing consultants note, was an effort to draw attention to the importance of women's preferences and purchasing power, which for decades was often overlooked by product designers and advertisers.
Ms. Barletta says that many companies have paid too much attention to "who pulls out the credit card or whose name is first on a contract," parts of the buying process where men are more visible. "In other stages, women tend to take the lead," she adds.
Researchers say so many judgments and emotions go into consumer purchases that it likely isn't possible to measure who makes which household spending decisions.
"[80%] is not a credible figure," says Esther Duflo, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies consumer behavior. "There just is not one. How would you possibly estimate it?"
In other words, it was a fake number dreamt up by people with an agenda -- pay attention to women! -- without a shred of evidence to back it up, and because enough people wanted it to be so, it took hold in the culture.
Climate change? Tax the rich? Domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday? Sort of the same thing.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
Maddy Dychtwald might have a chip on her shoulder.
Nov '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
Doesn’t it depend on the product? Whether it’s cordless drills or opera tickets?
Re: Men & Women & Money
Most of what passes as social science is a con job, and this applies most forcefully to polling data. When feminism drives the investigation, it nearly always determines the results. If one can ask "Cui bono?" with regard to the statistics bandied about, one should read the fine print. That the results suit the investigator do not prove them wrong, but this fact does raise a warning flag.
Dec '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
Ah, the social scientific method at work again: (1) Develop a hypothesis based on some desired political outcome. (2) Find data that would appear to support they hypothesis. (3) If the data contradicts the hypothesis, then reject the data as faulty.
Oct '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
Women are responsible for 83 percent of consumer purchases in the United States.
Agreed, somehow this study begs to usurp the traditional model of Bringing Home the Bacon in a more male centered purchasing pattern for households.
When it states, Women are responsible for 83 percent of consumer purchases in the United States.... Perhaps the descisions were collaberative or they were of the husbands wishes, sans pink scented TP..
An old saw there, save this study was a marketing ploy at best.
Apr '11
Re: Men & Women & Money
I suppose it would help to define "responsible" in this case. I do about 90% of the grocery shopping in the house, but half of what we get isn't foods I would choose in the absence of my husband. If he didn't desire a particular type of menu, we'd be eating a lot differently. But I also assent to the menu; he'd have little choice if he came home to a pot of what I wanted to cook without his input. So who's considered responsible for our consumer choices: me, or him? Both?
Also, if the person not at the point of sale is responsible for the choice, this would make kids responsible for some goodly percentage of consumer purchases, since we spend so much on clothing, feeding, entertaining, and bribing them. It would also make the government responsible for the stuff I have to buy to comply with the law (tax software, file folders, etc.)
May '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
I had heard that stat, and always thought it was a joke. I am (unfortunately) newly divorced, but when thinking about the purchasing decisions in our household, I made all the tech purchases (computers, tv's, home entertainment, etc). I also did most of the grocery shopping. She made most of the kid purchases, and we jointly made car purchases. My rough estimate would have have been female (15-20%), male (40%+), joint (50-60%). Anecdotally, I don't think our household was that unusual.
And, she is still asking my opinion on purchases.
Aug '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
What if the data collector wears a really cool lab coat? That would make it all legit, right? Nothing says "science" like a cool lab coat.
Jun '10
Re: Men & Women & Money
I just don't see how any data on this topic could reflect reality. It has to be all self-reported, right? So not only do you have to hope the subjects keep accurate records of all spending, you have to hope they don't sell the data collectors a line of malarkey based on what they want the truth to be, rather than what it is.
It seems this survey is trying to make assumptions of who wields the power in a household based on who makes purchasing decisions. In reality, for most relationships those decisions are based on expedience. Factors such as who cares more about the item being purchased, who knows more about the item being purchased, who has a bit of free time to go make the purchase, etc.
Power issues over spending are really symptoms of deeper trouble in a relationship, I think.