Marketing maintains that, from a sufficient income level, consumers do not buy what we need, but what we want. Female consumption patterns are thus directly influenced by the wishes of women. In turn, these stem from new personal and social situations.
Although it is true that Spain has the lowest female employment rate in Europe and that 75% of salaried women depend financially on their husbands, it is also true that the income available for female consumption is higher compared to cohorts and generations previous.
To this is added that we marry and procreate later and less (the Spanish fertility rate is the lowest in Europe), so the uses to which we put our disposable income are different. In short, the purchasing power of women today is greater and is managed in a more independent and self-referenced way: I spend more and I spend on myself.
Let's start with Sarah Jessica
The series “Sex in New York” defined the profile of the independent single woman who lives her life up in a Manolos before entering the quarantine. Carrie, its protagonist, does not know the number of shoes she has but lives for rent. Hedonistic and rewarding consumption is imposed on the mortgage.
The series opens up a space of visibility for the new consumer, who will be reflected in other literary characters - notably Bridget Jones - or in films such as the French "Why do women always want more?"
More consumers, older
Marketing departments face a double change: women spend more and have a longer life. In Spain, the WHO estimates life expectancy at 76 years for men and 83 for women.
A group that has been ignored until now and is proving to be very active are the so-called "fifty-year-olds", who constitute a growing market segment distinguished by three characteristics:
financial independence
good health
desire to do, not to remember.
In the US there are already clubs dedicated to this group. They have such active members as Anne Abernathy, who at age 52 has been the oldest registered athlete in the Winter Olympics.
As a target, these 50+ consumers expect from their advertisers a message that is relevant and sensitive to their personal situation. The couturiers have taken out the antennas and campaigns and catwalks are beginning to appear where the models wear gray hair. This has been the case for Konrad Muhr at Gaudí, for whom the former professional model Paola Cortis, 69 years old and, it must be said, 90-65-90 has walked.
Changes in relationships between the sexes
The new sociological models of the couple and the family also lead to new purchasing decisions.
An increasing number of women are paired with younger men. Hollywood marks a trend that is beginning to be seen in our latitudes: Diane Keaton (59 years old) goes out with Keanu Reeves (40) and Demi Moore (42) marries Ashton Kutcher (27).
In this new socio-economic scenario, men can appear as a “commodity”: women today have sufficient financial autonomy to buy, if necessary, company. The offer in the sector of escorts for women is flourishing and the demand, growing although invisible. The media are beginning to pick up on this underground movement. In this line the television series of the model Jerry Hall is registered. Kept ("Maintained") takes twelve Americans to London where the actress, turned into a new Pygmalion, teaches them ways and wears them in different saraos. The finalist companion is chosen by a jury made up of the actress's friends, among whom is the designer Vivianne Westwood.
The new relationship of women with sex gives rise to new businesses, such as the sex shop for women or meetings with friends to buy tuppersex.
Beauty, a foreign concept
"Almost five out of ten Spanish women completely agree that they do not feel comfortable describing themselves as beautiful."
The Dove brand will go down in advertising history for investing, in its campaign For real beauty, the fashion canon, placing the typical consumer as a reference model. Other brands, like the cosmetics firm Bobby Brown, have followed similar identification strategies.
An interesting observation from the Dove study is that the percentage of women 30+ willing to be 25% less intelligent in exchange for being 25% more beautiful is 2%. Therefore, stereotyped beauty is presented as a common concept, but not assumed. This is your limit on the sales channel.
The "furious amazons", engines of consumption
There are many “angry” women, victims of the lethal combination represented by environmental stress and unacknowledged overexertion, to which we add unattainable stereotypes of beauty. Hence, the anthropologist Melinda Davis speaks specifically, in her Why do we want what we want?, Of "raging Amazonism" as a new trend in the market.
We have gone from "men are not better" to "men and women are equal" to "we are better than them." This trend is being incorporated into the new language of consumption in the form of “combative” messages. It is no coincidence that two of the Zara brand's women's trends for the 05-06 autumn-winter season are called “Army Review” and “New Military”. It is no coincidence that in his current campaign, Moët Chandon refers to men as "subjects" or that Karl Lagerfeld creates, for Dom Perignon, a sapphic world where men hide their identity behind a mask.
The new drivers: peace of mind
Today brands promise us the lost balance. When we leave the office tired and, Visa in hand, we launch an assault on the nearest perfumery, what are we buying? A moisturizer or a moment of relaxation? Brands promise serenity and perfumes are named after such suggestive states of mind as “Euphoria” or “Hypnose”. Smelling good is no longer enough: we want to feel good.
Personalization and miscegenation
The tendency to “tunning”, to adapt a product or service to make it unique, has also entered the universe of female consumption with force, where it manifests itself as customization and as miscegenation.
Today women can customize our iPod music list or our cosmetics. The important thing is that the product or service we purchase fits our personality or beliefs (like this clothing line for Catholic believers.)
We can also mark our uniqueness by resorting to miscegenation in all its possibilities. Fashion proposes increasingly exotic ethnic concepts. Consumers in turn choose to mix contemporary garments with pieces from other times to create exclusive and unrepeatable looks: "Vintage clothing is imposed as its own and original style in which what is sought is authenticity." 1
«Evaluation»
Women spend more, more independently and more self-referentially. These singularities lead Tom Peters to draw the concept of "Evelution" to point out the bases of a Marketing strategy that specifically addresses female consumption: "If we allow consumers to connect with each other, they will connect to our brand."
To reach this new target, it is necessary for companies to engage in a dialogue that includes the aspirations, fears and complaints of the collective, without trying to impose a sweetened vision of the female fact: in the words of the Marketing specialist for women Marti Barletta: "We want transparent marketing, not rosy marketing."
