Comments on: Watch out, here comes Wonder-Woman

By: Meg Rokos

Meg Rokos — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:15:38 +0000

Not sure that the economic factors are really what is driving any new behavior. Women have been making most household decisions for a very long time. However, this more “evolved”, multi-tasking, time starved buyer makes buying decisions by leveraging social networks, on-line research, subscription services such as Consumer Reports and Angie's List, as well as e-mail or conversation based advice from friends and colleagues. They are heavily influenced by knowledge/analysis of users, are decisive, and go to POP after fast, effective research, with confidence and commitment. These smart women are not standing in the aisles of Best Buy saying, “Should I get this one or that one?” Their credit card is out of the purse in the parking lot, and their brains have moved on to their next task while they retrieve the item from the shelf, or, click on “Buy”. And that Wonder Woman stereotype is so not working for me… the woman you are supposedly talking about. I'd go so far as to say it's offensive…sorry. So 70's…

By: Meg Rokos

Meg Rokos — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:15:38 +0000

By: shahngriffiths

shahngriffiths — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:02:03 +0000

The Bureau of Labor Statistics would suggest the number of married women who earn more than their husbands is higher than 22% and is rising http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/jan/wk1/art05.htm. Although irrespective - it's undeniable that this consumer segment of so-called Wonder-Women represents an interesting target audience opportunity for advertisers. Being the female head of household creates a unique decision-making dynamic that especially impacts highly considered purchases: from buying a car to who's going to undersign for the home loan. It goes way beyond the issues of who does the grocery shopping? Very few brands recognize or truly understand this dynamic. And clearly, for brands to continue to exclusively focus on talking to a male target in this type of Wonder-Woman household would indicate that it truly doesn't understand the underlying psychologies that are at play in purchase decisions.

By: shahngriffiths

shahngriffiths — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:59:34 +0000

Erica, thanks for posting your comments. You raise some interesting questions about non-hetrosexual Wonder-Women.

By: Elio

Elio — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:26:47 +0000

Rarely have I read such nonsense. First of all, there are 22% of families in which the wife is the higher earner. that means there are 78% of families in which the husband is the higher earner. Quite a gap. So if advertisers should target those with the highest income, shouldn't you be focused on the men? And why would women be the primary shoppers? that's what women have always been traditionally. Are you saying that the traditional sex roles have not changed? That would completely contradict your thesis of changing gender roles. It would make more sense for you to be saying that husbands should be now be targeted by ads instead of wives. the fact that husbands barely get a mention proves you don't really think there's been a change in family dynamics at all. Women are the primary family purchaser just as they always have been. So where is all this change in gender role?

Oh and as for “mr. mom”: As of the latest census, there were approximately 200000 male primary caregivers, versus 5 million female. So again, where is the great gender reversal?

By: nberard

nberard — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:34:48 +0000

Hmm. I'm never sure what to say about stuff like this. It bothers me quite a bit that we refer to this as something novel–as if we've just started to acknowledge that women can have powerful careers, essentially run the household most of the time and that men might–gasp!–actually want to help raise their own children. I fit perfectly into this confabulated “wonder woman” profile, and this all sounds pretty quaint to me, especially the bit about the “wonder woman costume”. This isn't an act or an outfit. It's what happens when a society wakes up and casts off hundreds of years of male dominance. And if a brand is just starting to acknowledged this they are way, WAY too late. Those are the same brands that thought painting a product pink and renaming it would “satisfy my emotional needs”.

Ugh.

By: ginapreziosa

ginapreziosa — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:12:57 +0000

I AM wonder woman!

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:28:30 +0000

I'm curious if you found any information regarding non-heterosexual women- women who may identify as lesbian, bisexual, asexual, etc. You bring forth many interesting points about the evolution of gender norms and roles as they relate to advertising and marketing to a new population. However it is important to recognize another subset of this “Wonder Women” group. What about Mrs. Mom. Same-sex marriage is to date legal in 5 states (New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut) and soon to be 6 with the addition of Washington, D.C. How do we account for this new emerging Ms. Mom and the Mrs. Moms out there?