Gender differences in buyer behavior and reacting to advertising and direct marketing

By nature men and women are wired differently. Primarily there are seven big differences between the sexes, these are:

1. Human relationships - Women tend to communicate better than men, create solutions that work for everyone, talk through issues, and use non-verbal cues such as tone, emotion, and empathy. Men on the other hand tend to be more task-oriented, less talkative, and more isolated. Further to this, men find it harder to understand emotion if it is not directly shown. Women on the other hand can pick up on emotional queues and understand emotion better.
2. The use of the brain - Men tend to use more of the left side of their brain. The left side of the brain tends to focus on analytical thought, logic, language, science and maths. Women on the other hand utilise both sides of their brain that of the left brain and the right brain which focuses on holistic thought, intuition, creativity, art and music. This is why men tend to do better at left brain activities and problem solving and women excel at solving problems creatively and being aware of emotion. Look at the rotating image shown below:
   

   
   
   If the image rotates clockwise you use more of the right side of your brain and anti-clockwise, the left.
   

3. Mathematical ability - Men have been proven to have a better ability to solve mathematical problems in comparison to women. This is a result of men having a significantly larger IPL (inferior-parietal lobule). The IPL is used to estimate time, judge speed, visualize things three-dimensionally and solve mathematical problems.
4. Reaction to stress - Men and women also act differently when faced with situations of stress. Men when faced with stress release testosterone and induce a fight or flight reaction. Women on the other hand release oxytocin and have a tend and befriend attitude which calms and nurtures.

Stress!!!

5. Language - In the case of language the area of the brain associated with language was found to be larger in women's brains. Further to this women were able to utilize this area in both sides of their brain opposed to men who can only utilize it on their dominant side.
6. Emotions - Emotionally women have a larger deep limbic system than men. This results in women having a better connection with other peoples feelings and how to express their own. However the negative effects of this is a greater risk of depression, especially during ovulation.
7. Spatial ability - Finally men typically have a better spatial awareness and ability to mentally depict what an image should look like. This is due to women having a thicker parietal region of the brain, which hinders their ability to mentally rotate objects.

In terms of marketing to the different genders these seven factors play an important role. Men and women respond to different marketing stimuli. Men are likely to pick up on one or two very salient and obvious kinds of cues normally involving humour. Further more men tend to think in a more macro way, and need to be shown the big picture. Men are less likely to process complex metaphors, but value ambition and physical strength. This is shown below in a McCoy's crisps advert:



This advert is definitive of what a mans mind and buyer behavior is like, straight forward, to the point and no nonsense. Their 'man's crisps' why bother with the micro elements! When marketing to women on the other hand adverts are often more detailed and appeal to glamour, beauty and youth. Also women tend to appreciate very fine distinctions, such as 5 different variations of shampoo-for curly hair, straight hair, oily hair, dry hair. Further more women like adverts that relate to them or in marketing terms self reference. Self referencing for women is a desire to own a product because it relates to them and they can imagine themselves owning it. An example of this is shown below in an advert for women's perfume:



Within this advert the use of colour, a massive house, the contrast between white and pink and the shape of the perfume bottle (an apple) all appeal to a women's marketing stimuli. In reflection this advert is almost perfect and reflects female buyer behavior focusing on glamour, beauty and youth. Shown below is Mark Gungor's comedy depiction of the difference between men and women's brains: