Men are Media Hogs - Women are Couponers
- By: Linda Buquet [privmsg - website] On 12th Sep 2005
A report from Forrester Research called "Men are from CNET, Women are from iVillage" identifies the difference between men and women's behavior online and could provide some insights for targeting those affiliate links. I hate sexual stereotypes because I am so NOT typical. Yes I'm a woman but I work online 12 hours a day. Who has time to play games and share photos??? ;-)
"On the Web, men tend to surf for news, magazines, finance, job and career information. They also visit discussion boards and comparison shop. Online activities for women skew more toward utility; they get movie information, play games, share photos, and use online phone directories... Women, however, are more inclined to use the Web to search for bargains and download coupons."
Go to Clickz to read Men are Media Hogs, then come back to discuss the difference between men and women's surfing and shopping behavior online.
Are you typical or do you break this stereotypical mold???
Linda 5 Star Affiliate Programs
Are you typical?
You've got to be kidding me. At this site? Sort of like busting into a rave to ask how many people like Perry Como. The idea behind those types of surveys is to ascertain typical behavior for marketing purposes.
In any event, stereotyping tends to work. The people at say, Cosmo, or any other magazine or marketing firm, don't market to the atypical. They enjoy their stereotypical market, in fact, they exploit it. Broadcast media does the same thing.
When I want to get some insight into the differences in copy that is targeted for men and women it's really easy to do. Tune in to a soap during the week, and a football game during the weekend. Yep, there are men that watch soaps, and women that watch the NFL. Spend some time watching car commercials. can you tell which spots are targeting men and which spots target women? Why do nearly all the commercials for cars targeting women show women folding up seats and loading up groceries and children? Why do all the commercials targeting men show sleek cars on country roads with drivers breaking the speed limit? Stereotypes. And it works.
Start marketing to the atypical and you might find increased conversion rates, but fewer sales. I'm interested in knowing if anyone here thinks they are typical internet users?
No.
Not I. On the other hand, I'd wonder whether "women" was just a tad too broad a demographic.
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>too broad a demographic.
Yep. I want age groups. Income figures. Education levels. etc. Those reports tend to be expensive though.