The New American Woman Wears the Purse in the Family

Written by Corinne Garcia Thursday, September 02 2010

In the business world, it’s no longer a question of who wears the pants in the family. It’s now a question of who wears the purse in the family.

According to a recent study by international communications firm Fleishman Hillard, 79 percent of women surveyed claim to manage the family’s financial decisions, 91 percent claim to manage the family’s quality of life, and nearly 100 percent say they are either the sole or shared decision maker at home.

“Women are ultimately the decision makers, the CFOs of the household,” says Karen Kaplan, general manager and senior partner of Fleishman Hillard. “They decide what they’re going to spend the money on, what products to pick off the shelves, where to go on vacation. There are not many major spending decisions that women don’t make.”

And that’s not all. Jen Drexler, principal of New York City-based Just Ask A Woman, a firm that advises clients in Fortune 500 category companies about women’s spending habits, reminds us that even when a woman doesn’t make a decision, her veto power cannot be ignored. Husband comes home with new car, and “she can veto that right out of the driveway,” Drexler says.

But since when did women harness so much power?
It’s not as if women rose to the top of the family’s decision-making ladder overnight. According to Kaplan, who is based in Atlanta, their rise in decision-making prowess has been in the making for some time.

“It’s been evolving since women had equal rights to men,” Kaplan explains. She says that women tend to have an innate sense for protecting their families from struggles, wanting to keep them safe at all costs.

“Because women are so accustomed to multitasking and setting priorities, they can weather the tough times,” Kaplan says. “’I don’t have a choice, I have to get through this for my family and look for positive in negative situations.’ Some of the qualities inherent to women are needed in tough times.”

And according to the research, women have weathered the recession storm in relatively better shape than men. “Women were always expected to be the caregivers, but an increasing number of women has joined the work force, now outnumbering men,” Kaplan says. Through the recession, the Fleishman Hillard study found, many women have developed an increased level of self-confidence.

The end result is what Kaplan refers to as “The New American Woman.”

What does The New American Woman mean for business?
According to both Kaplan and Drexler, women mean everything to the marketing world. “Women are the clearinghouse and decision makers for everything that affects family, including their parents and in-laws,” Kaplan says. “As their role continues to expand, they are the ones we need to be speaking to pretty much in all consumer products.”

And since women tend to represent the entire family, Drexler explains that today’s women do not only represent the “pink” side of the market. Instead, they represent both sexes. For example, Drexler says that if you ask a woman what she doesn’t like about a particular airline, she may tell you that they didn’t give her enough information about the delayed flight and that the seating was cramped. She tells it like it is from the human perspective, not just the female perspective.

“By listening to women and marketing with women, you increase marketing all around,” Drexler says. “They offer more of a human solution.”

How can businesses harness this power?
The New American Woman is savvy, confident, and busy, so reaching her has to follow suit. “When women stayed home all the time, it had to be emotional,” Kaplan says. “Today, it has to have value, more than emotional. It has to be tangible. Something that makes her life less complicated.”

And Kaplan says that in reaching out to women, it’s important to understand that although their families are the top priority, they’re not their only priority. “Women don’t want to be defined by their families,” she says.

And Drexler explains that companies need to change their marketing practices altogether to align with today’s women. “It’s about knowing what they want early and checking in often,” she says. “Don’t market to them, but with them. Marketing to women is over; marketing with women to get to human solution is what it’s about. By listening to women and marketing with women you increase marketing all around.”

More resources about the importance of the female demographic:
http://www.justaskawoman.com: Experts in women’s marketing.

http://fleishmanhillard.com/2010/07/22/what-women-really-want-new-insight-about-the-female-consumer/: A look at the female consumer by Fleishman Hillard.

http://www.m2w.biz/: An annual Marketing to Women conference.

http://www.thepowerofthepurse.com/blog/: A blog by writer and speaker Fara Warner about women’s impact as consumers.

Corinne Garcia is a freelance writer and editor living with her husband and two young boys in Bozeman, Mont. She has also written for Women’s Adventure, Christian Science Monitor, Northwest Travel, Pregnancy, Fit Pregnancy, and Fit Parent.