In the world of marketing, it’s not offensive to state this undeniable fact—men and women are inherently different in their line of thinking. That’s not at all insinuating one gender’s superiority over the other, quite the contrary—both possess certain social, psychological, and even physical differences that make their responses to marketing content and visuals unique. Smart businesses that employ seasoned marketers recognize these innate differences and formulate strategies and tactics to effectively target male and female consumers. In order to do so, it’s incumbent upon organizations to understand the purchasing rationales of both genders—or in simpler terms, the why behind the buy.
Studies have shown a multitude of physical differences in the way men’s and women’s brains are comprised, according to the CEO of NeuroFocus. The latter possess a thicker corpus callosum, the interconnecting bridge of nerves between the right and left hemispheres. As a result, women tend to better utilize both sides of their brains to multi-task and think more abstractly in analyzing content. Women also have a larger prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotions. Moreover, a woman’s larger hippocampus means their level of nuance in emotional detail is greater than a man’s. To maximize female engagement, marketers should create content that resonates with them and taps into their emotional suite.
As consumers, women are browsers—they take their time on deciding what products and services to buy, as well as what brands and missions to believe in. Yet, at the same time, they love what’s new and fresh. With the right messaging, organizations can entice women to endorse their brands quicker and easier than men. However, doing so means establishing an emotional relationship—women want to see the lifestyle behind the brand, and their purchasing decisions often come down to “How will this make me feel?”
Conversely, men are predominantly right brain thinkers who view brand and product messaging in a straightforward fashion. Men are hunters rather than browsers—they’re concrete, linear thinkers who focus on what they require now and the immediate benefits and usefulness. Males are less invested in the detail-oriented aspects of purchasing decisions, and more interested in “Why do I need this?” When targeting men, marketers should strive to appeal to their logic-driven approach using more imagery. You may ask, “Why more imagery?” Men have a larger parietal lobe that allows better spatial perception than women and as a result, they tend to prefer images to reading copy. When marketing to a man it’s best to get to the point rapidly while emphasizing integral product features using active statements.
Marketers attempting to engage men to becoming their brand’s ambassadors need to understand that men tend to be more set in their ways than women and therefore, it’s harder to convince them to try new things. If your strategic messaging and imagery is strong enough to compel a man to buy into your brand the payoff comes in the form of greater loyalty. On average, men tend to be more forgiving toward a brand making a mistake than women—so while it’s easier to recruit women consumers—it’s also easier to lose them.
Marketing directly to women was once an underutilized and misunderstood art—in a field that was once dominated by male culture, the buying power of the female consumer was underestimated. In recent years, studies displayed that women account for 7 trillion dollars in annual consumer purchases—more than triple the amount spent by men.
Of course, none of these traits are all encompassing nor are they meant to make a broad generalization of either gender. Plenty of women make logic-based purchasing decisions and are utilitarian in their approach—just as many men are drawn to messaging that elicits an emotional response. All the same, adept marketers are ones that analyze demographic thinking before implementing the correct strategy to boost consumer engagement. By recognizing the different ways men and women react to messaging stimuli, you’ll enhance your organization’s ability to generate new John and Jane Doe consumers, while retaining their loyalty for years to come.
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