Ever wonder about the evolution of household soap – why we have squirt bottles of hand sanitizer, separate bars of facial soap, all-purpose soap, shower gels and body wash? Or why hotel clerks no longer announce guests’ names and room numbers, but instead hand out anonymous, digitized cards with the room numbers written discreetly inside? Or why the digital cameras at your local Best Buy are displayed on an attractive curved countertop rather than a hard, angular one?
Paco Underhill, author of the international bestseller Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping and chief executive of New York-based research and consulting firm Envirosell, has considered these questions, and the answer, he says, lies in the increasing clout of the female consumer.
Women demand cleanliness. When they travel alone, they want to feel secure. And when they shop, they pay attention to their surroundings, he says.
In his new book, What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly, Mr. Underhill explains that the growing economic power and influence of women is reshaping the commercial landscape, changing how we spend and how we live.
You say in your book that what female consumers value is cleanliness, control, safety and considerateness. Don’t men value these same things too?
We live in world that’s owned by men, designed by men and managed by men and yet we expect women to participate in it. Those are all things that certainly men have some respect [for]. Men have always gotten some consideration, [but] men’s radar [for] hygiene is nowhere near what women’s hygiene radar is ...
While there are distinct evolutionary differences between men and women, part of what is interesting is the line between them has gotten imminently fuzzier, meaning not every man is a he-man and not every woman is a shopping queen.
But how do the values of female consumers compare with the values of men? What do men value that women don’t?
Men have historically been programmed to be hunters, which is they like to go into the forest or the store, kill something reasonably quickly and try to get out the door. Whereas you can meet your sister and you can go to the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto, and you can spend four or five hours, have a fabulous time and buy nothing.
So these are ingrained differences?
Certainly genetic programming is part of us. But in the evolution of our species, we recognize that this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill and that the simple relationship of men and women to each other and the world around them has shifted.
How can you attract female consumers without alienating the men?
I think, in general, when you pay attention to a woman’s needs here, as they say down South, “If you keep Mama happy, everybody’s happy.”
But what about the concept of unisex? You mention that unisex is on its way out.
I’m guessing if I went into your closet, there are some much loved articles in that closet that you wear frequently that were made for men. There’s a blue jean jacket. There may even be a pair of boy’s jeans, and you feel utterly and completely comfortable wearing those things and it does not compromise your identity in the slightest.
Whereas if I went to your brother’s closet, I’m guessing there’s nothing there made for a female. Or if there is, it’s hidden in a deep dark corner. So part of what we’re finding is that women often have a greater sense of confidence in who they are and are less threatened by the concept of unisex.
On the other hand, I’m not sure women like a unisex dressing room. A woman’s relationship to a dressing room and a men’s relationship to a dressing room is just fundamentally different. You get some pleasure out trying things on. Most guys get no pleasure out of trying things on....
[When appealing to both genders,] I think you have to be careful, but, in general, looking at it from a female point of view is something that’s generally good for business generically.
Why do women prefer female salespeople?
Because they don’t like to be talked down to. And particularly when they’re dealing with technology items, other women recognize what a woman might be looking for.
Whereas for men?
A man goes into a store and buys a hammer; a woman goes and buys pictures on the wall. That’s the difference between somebody buying a technology and someone buying an appliance, and I mean that in a totally positive sense of the word. Women are much more cognizant in a technology purchase of what the impact on their life is going to be.
Now please understand I’m making these broad brushstrokes here, but in order to deal with a topic in less than 70,000 words, I think that’s what you have to do.
On that note, you mention you’re “just a boy writing about girls.” What’s been the response so far?
I have been tarred and feathers in some cases, but I would like to think that I’ve been tarred and feathered because people had an agenda before they picked up my book.
But in general, I thought the nicest response was [when] one of my female friends, who’s a very successful businesswoman, said, ‘Paco, this is a funny book. Most of it is funny-funny, and most of it is funny-uncomfortable,’ meaning that most of us like to look at ourselves in the mirror, and that sometimes, somebody points out something we haven’t noticed before. And sometimes that catches us a bit by surprise, and that’s what I hope is an experience that readers have reading my book.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
