As the only girl on the Gadgets team, I often get asked to write what I call “lady-rants” about products targeted toward women. I have a problem with most of them, as the products themselves are either being forced into a demographic by marketers (like the HTC Rhyme, which would’ve been a fine phone for anyone if marketed that way) or they’re simply painted pink in the hopes that pink is, in fact, what all women have been looking for in their consumer electronics.
The truth of the matter is, men have spent more money on consumer electronics in the past and, as a result, women have unfortunately been left with ads targeted towards men or pink versions of everything. But no more.
According to a study out of the CEA, the same folks that brought you that over-sized week of madness called CES, more and more women are showing an interest in consumer electronics than they were in the past.
Specifically, eight in ten women expressed an interest in gadgets, up 10 percentage points from the same time in 2007. Of those women, 41 percent said they were “very interested” in consumer electronics. But it gets more interesting than that.
In 2007, the spending gap between men and women in the CE space was around $200, with men obviously spending more. Now, men spend an average of $728 over the course of a year, as opposed to women spending an average of $667 during the same period. That’s a difference of just $61.
But even if women spend a bit less and show less interest than guys, women are still a part of the picture when it comes to their man’s gadgetry. According to the study, 61 percent of women either initiate or are involved in the decision-making when it comes to consumer electronics purchases.
Both men and women look at the same things when purchasing a product, most important of which is price, followed by ease of use, warranty, and multiple functionality. Where men and women differ, however, is on size (shocker!). Speaking from the standpoint of someone who wears girls’ jeans, size is pretty important to women when it comes to mobile gadgetry like smartphones and tablets, a sentiment echoed by the study.
And perhaps the most important thing we can take away from this study comes out of the mouth of CEA manager of strategic research Jessica Boothe:
Forget pink. Women don’t want to be catered to with ultra-feminine looking products; they simply prefer lightweight devices that can fit smaller hands and smaller body frames. Women play many roles, like mother, spouse and career women, and CE products that can perform many functions are a necessity.
[IMG Credit: ShutterStock]