Correlating Women’s Leadership Styles to Purchasing Behavior

by Judith Hoyt Pettigrew

When asked if he thought women would rise to power in his lifetime, Winston Churchill said, “When did they lose it?” Indeed women have held positions of power for many centuries, but it is only in this last century that they truly became empowered. The impact women are making can be seen in the workplace and in the marketplace. Any business interested in segmenting this niche and building lucrative markets needs to know their characteristics.

This Millennium’s Most Powerful Market

 Before exploring the characteristics that make this segment unique, it is worth looking at the numbers to confirm its potential for businesses.

            -  82% of all products and services are purchased by women           

-  40% of all businesses in the U.S. are owned by women

- Women business owners employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined

-  Women make up 49.5% of all corporate managerial and specialty positions

-  53% of all investment decisions are made by women

-  By 2010 Women will control $12.5 trillion of private wealth in the U.S. alone

These statistics are U.S. only. Comparative growth and development of this economic sector is occurring globally, as well.

Women: Leading the Way

 Judy B. Rosener, renowned faculty member at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California Irvine, stated in a Harvard Business Review¹ article that “women are drawing on what is unique to their socialization as women… to achieve results - in a different way.” Women’s leadership characteristics correlate to their purchasing styles and can be used as the psychographics for reaching this market. For simplicity sake, I am using a mnemonic device to help readers C’s the opportunity to understand and development this market segment.  

CONSENSUS

Women lead by including others, offer plenty of opportunities for interaction and participation. They gather and share knowledge and encourage others to do so, as well.  Decision-making is democratic; not autocratic.

In the marketplace: Women gather information, ask for the opinions of others and make decisions after researching the product or service.

CARE

Dale Carnegie said, "People want to know how much you care, before they care how much you know.” Women are inherently nurturers and caregivers. Once perceived as a “soft-side” characteristic that had no place in the business world, it is now the topic of many a business book and training session.

 In the marketplace: Women want to do business with companies that care. In a research study by the Center for Business Women’s Research, they found that “women want to do business with companies that exhibit social responsibility.”² 

 CONCERN

Every woman is different – her values, attitudes and lifestyles (VALS) are strong indicators of her needs, wants and desires. They affect how she performs in the workplace, how she perceives people and situations and how she responds to others. Her VALS impact her concern for people, the environment, issues and outcomes.     

 In the marketplace: Targeting women requires researching the VALS of the applicable geographic and demographic segments to successfully communicate a product or service’s benefits. 

 CONTRIBUTION

Women view their value by more than their paychecks. They look for reinforcement of their contributions in changes in culture and behavior, results and outcomes and the feedback of cohorts and colleagues.

 In the marketplace: For women, making a purchase does not end with the transaction. Successfully selling to women requires building an ongoing relationship through customer service and communication.

CONNECTEDNESS

Women do not see their activities, whether as leaders or followers, as independent actions. They understand the impact they and their decisions have upon others and the catalytic power that can have.

 In the marketplace: Women share their experiences. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth with the women’s market. 70% of women learn the most about new products or services from someone who has already purchased. ³

 COMMUNICATION

Women communicate differently than men do. Communicating with a woman is a whole-brain, total body experience. Women are especially cognizant of the fact the at least 65% of communications are sent and received non-verbally. Women use language that is right brain, i.e. words that connote feelings, as well as the predominantly left-brain logical language in their communications. An even more important aspect of communications than speaking is listening. Women feel that the solidity of any relationship is based on whether the other person is actively listening to her.

 In the marketplace: One litmus test almost all advertisers apply to the women’s market is: are their communication “female-friendly.”

CHEERLEADING

Women support others. They provide encouragement, recognize achievements and enhance the self-worth of others.

 In the marketplace: To win market share in the women’s market, smart businesses are becoming actively involved with and supportive of women’s issues, causes and organizations.

Conclusions  

Leadership for women is more than knowing how to do it. It is knowing how to think and how to feel. It is inclusive and participatory. It is not a command and control agenda. It is all about consensus and collaboration. In the marketplace, the more a business applies these leadership style characteristics to its strategies for building market share in the women’s market, the more success it will be.

 ¹ Rosener, Judy B. Ways Women Lead. Harvard Business Review, Boston, MA. Nov-Dec 1990 pp.1-11

² Center for Women’s Business Research. www.womensbusinessresearch.org

³ Ibid.

Judith Hoyt Pettigrew is the founder and CEO of WOW! Unlimited Inc., a company that helps clients reach women worldwide through programs, products and services^SM. Judy is a respected and renowned expert on the women’s market. She is the author of Women Mean Business: The Secret of Selling to Women (WOW! Women Ink, 1998) and hundreds of articles on subjects relating to women. Judy can be reached by phone at 888-872-9691 or via e-mail at mom@wowunlimited.com