2008
Marketing to Middle-Class Women
Channin Campbell
PSYC 1101
11/16/2008
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Table of Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 3
Marketing to Middle Class Women…………………………………………….…………….....Pgs. 4 -12
Reference Page………………………………………………………………………….……………Pgs. 13 – 14
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Abstract
In a report by the Census Bureau release in July of 2004, it showed that there
were over 95.7 million unmarried and single Americans. Over 53% of them were women.
Despite the rapid pace that this market continues to grow, it is one of the most ignored
markets out there, even by politicians. Perhaps it is time to learn how to tap into this
market and not only gain their votes, but their business as well. This paper will focus on
what it takes to market to the middle-class woman.
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All manufacturers are searching for new market segments of consumers and ways to
differentiate their products from their global competitors. A business firm segments its markets
so it can respond more effectively to the wants of groups of potential buyers and thus increase its
sales and profits. Some specific segments that firms use are: lifestyle segments, price segments,
gender segments, and age segments. The strategies manufacturers use to satisfy needs of
different customers illustrate successful market segmentation (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and
Rudelius, 2006).
What are market segments and what does it involve? Market segments are the “relatively
homogenous groups of prospective buyers that result from the market segmentation process.
Market segmentation involves aggregating prospective buyers into groups that “have common
needs” and “will respond similarly to a marketing action.” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and
Rudelius, 2006) George Day (1980) describes model of segmentation as the top-down approach:
“You start with the total population and divide it into segments.” He also identified an alternative
model which he called the bottom-up approach. In this approach, one starts with a single
customer and builds on that profile. This typically requires the use of customer relationship
management software or a database of some kind. Profiles of existing customers are created and
analyzed. Various demographic, behavioral, and psychographic patterns are built up using
techniques such as cluster analysis. Pine (1993) used the bottom-up approach in what he called
"segment of one marketing". Through this process, mass customization is possible.
Each market segment consists of people who are relatively similar to each other in terms
of their buyer behavior. Buyers’ needs and a business firm’s marketing program begin the
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process of segmenting a market and finding specific segments. Market segmentation involves
two important actions: stressing “the importance of grouping people or organization in a market
according to the similarity of their needs and the benefits they are looking for in making a
purchase” and relating those needs and benefits to “specific marketing actions the organization
can take.” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 2006) The process of segmenting markets
and reaching the desired target is divided into five steps. These steps include: “grouping potential
buyers into segments, grouping products to be sold into categories, developing a market-product
grid and estimating the size of markets, selecting target markets, and taking marketing actions to
reach target markets.” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 2006)
A specific criterion is involved in grouping buyers into different segments. When
developing markets, managers should consider: “potential for increased profit, similarity of
needs of potential buyers within a segment, difference of needs of buyers among segments,
potential of a marketing action to reach a segment, and simplicity and cost of assigning potential
buyers to segments.” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 2006)
There are certain ways in which to segment consumer markets, which begins the process
in segmenting and targeting markets. They are divided into two main dimensions: customer
characteristics and buying situations (Dugas, 2003). Some common customer characteristics
include: geographic, such as region; demographic, such as gender; and psychographic, such as
lifestyle. Buying situations are another way to segment consumer markets. These situations are
divided into five categories: “outlet type, benefits sought, usage, awareness, and behavior.”
(Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 2006) Understanding what benefits are important to
different customers is often a useful way to segment markets because it can lead directly to a
specific marketing action, such as a new product, advertisement, or distribution system. Usage
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rate is “the quantity consumed or patronage during a specific period.” (Kerin, Hartley,
Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 2006) Obtaining usage rate is done through surveys by the Simmons
Market Research Bureau. It surveys approximately 33,000 adults 18 years of age and older every
6 months to figure out how “the products and services they buy and the media they watch relate
to their lifestyle and demographic characteristics.” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, and Rudelius,
2006)
The second step in the process involves grouping products to be sold into categories.
When a business firm has multiple products, grouping them into categories can be just as
imperative as attempting to figure out to whom the products should be sold. For this reason,
department store and supermarkets separate their products into departments or aisles,
respectively, to allow different buyers to relate to them (Perreault, Cannon, and McCarthy,
2008).
The third step involves developing a market-product grid and estimating the size of the
markets. But for our purposes, I will not elaborate on this step any further. The fourth step,
selecting target markets, is a careful and tedious process. In this step, the selection of the target
segments begins, which involves five specific criteria: “market size, expected growth,
competitive position, cost of reaching the segment, and compatibility with the organization’s
objectives and resources.” After the criteria have been met, a firm can carry out choosing a
market which will benefit it the most (Perreault, Cannon, and McCarthy, 2008).
When marketing, it is useful to understand that society looks at people in terms of social
class. Social class is a group of people who usually range around the same area in social position
as being viewed by others in society. Almost all societies have some kind of social class
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structure. In most countries, social class is usually related to people’s occupations. These
occupations may range from factory workers all the way to marine biologists. Social class can
also be influenced by education, worldly possessions, or social skills. It is also possible to be
born into a social class. However, during a lifetime, one may fall or rise into another one. In the
United States, people in the same social class may have various incomes, just as people with the
same income may be in different social classes (Perrault, Cannon, Perreault, 2008).
The U.S. class system is not as strict as it is for other countries (Perreault et al., 2008). On
the other hand, in India, social structure is a lot more stringent. It is not as easy for people to
move up in the class system. To be successful marketers, they need to know what buyers in
various social classes are like. In the U.S., this is found out by observing a person's occupation,
education, and type and location of housing. To obtain this information, marketers use research
surveys or available census data. Examining allows quite diverse approaches to the problem
(Johnson, 1982). By observing the social classes, one can find out many things. For instance,
various classes like to shop in certain types of stores and receive certain treatment from the sales
associates. They will buy different brands of products and generally, have different spending
attitudes. All of this takes place, even though they have the same income level.
Most Americans in this country would refer to themselves as middle class. In relation to
us, the middle class is made up of those who encompass economic independence but they do not
have a lot of social influence or power. The definition of middle class is constantly changing,
therefore so are the requirements. Years ago, middle class citizens could survive off of only the
income from one person. During recent years, it usually requires two working people to provide
for their families just so they can live satisfactorily will still being considered middle class.
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Marketers must represent their products well to the middle class because they do not have the
money to waste.
When marketing, one should strive for supplying a product that will satisfy more than
one need. Most consumers want to satisfy a set of needs at once, that way they get the most out
of their money. When income must be stretched because it is not there in abundance, one must
shop more efficiently. One does not have the leisure to buy whatever you feel. Needs are the
basic forces that motivate people do something. Needs are a necessity while, while wants are not.
There are many types of needs: Physiological needs, safety needs, personal needs, and social
needs. Physiological needs are the one that arise from biological needs, which means that needs
could possibly be food, drink, rest, or sex. (Perreault, 2008). Safety needs deal with protection
and physical well-being. To accomplish this, one will need to try to obtain food, stay in shape,
and take medicine if sick. Social needs basically involve other people. Due to social needs, one
may need to seek love and friendship. Personal needs only involve oneself. To satisfy these
needs, a person may have fun, relax, or feel accomplishment.
Another factor when marketing to the middle class, one must also realize that though they
inhabit one class, culture still plays an important part. Culture is said to be the whole set of
beliefs, attitudes, and ways of doing things of a reasonably homogeneous set of people
(Perreault, 2008). There are also various subcultures (Kerin et al., 2006). To study, one must
examine things like food customs, music are, and work patterns. Culture can also be said to be a
society’s personality (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007). Within the American culture, there are many
different subcultures. These cultures range from different religions and ethnicities. Someone with
a strong religious background will not purchase a shirt containing profanity, even if it is a part of
the current fad.
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Culture has such a great impact on marketing. It is very natural, involves no force, and
influences behavior. Culture is here to satisfy the needs of people within a certain society. It
deals with what people in the society believe to be a necessity or what they see as a luxury
(Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007). Because of culture, one may have certain attitudes about certain
things. Attitudes are a person’s point of view toward something (Perreault et al., 2008). Attitude
affects how you feel about certain products, services, ideas, etc. Markets should pay attention to
this because attitudes affect learning and ultimately, they affect the buying decisions people
make. When consumers have negative attitudes, it is really hard to change those attitudes
(Perreault et al., 2008).
To market to the middle class, one also has to understand the differences in perception
and understand how the selective process works. In selective exposure, people will see a
commercial or some kind of advertisement. However, the eyes and mind will only seek out and
pay attention to the information that interests us. During selection perception, one has to deal
with previous learned attitudes and beliefs, retaining and paying attention only to things that do
not affect previous thoughts. The final selective process is selective retention. Using selective
retention, one will remember what they want to remember. These processes help us to
understand why some people are not affected by some advertising. There are thousands of people
who watch thousands of commercials and do not remember anything (Perreault et al., 2008).
These processes have a major effect on people. To help them remember, many companies
use a common slogan, jingle, or trademark. Most of today's companies have catchy slogans. For
instance, McDonald's slogan is "I'm lovin' it", Burger King, "Have it your way", and Geico, “It’s
so easy a cave man can do it". Just by having a catchy slogan and a good beat, it will stick inside
of the consumers’ minds. Jingles and emblems get the job done just as well as slogans. One of
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the best current jingles is from Subway, which says, "5…5 dollar...5 dollar foot long." The
commercial is quite witty and the beat is catchy.
A large sector of the market that is constantly overlooked is middle-class women. It is
important for marketers to realize that women own more today than at any other time in history.
The remainder of this paper will discuss three components of the middle-class women’s market,
communication, sensory reception, and choosing a spokeswoman.
Women’s earning power has tremendously increased over the past three decades. “Men’s
median income has barely budged (+ .06 percent after adjusting for inflation), while women’s
has soared (+ 63 percent)” (Barletta, 2006). More women are earning degrees of higher
education than ever before. Forty-three percent of working married women with graduate
degrees earn more than their husbands (Barletta, 2006). In addition, females bring in the
majority of the household income and have higher-paying occupations.
Middle-class women have high consumer spending power because they are the household
Chief Purchasing Officers. Females are generally known to buy small items for households.
Some examples are food, clothing, and medicine. These overlooked beings are now driving the
purchases, even in historically male-driven categories. Some purchase categories that they are
overtaking are investment decisions, consumer electronics, new cars, and computers just to name
a few. Surprisingly, women are responsible for most household decisions.
All marketers should want to successfully communicate with their target. Although
perfect communication cannot be achieved, concentrating on the areas of relevance, emotion,
having a corporate halo, and getting transparent would surely help. Distribute relevant
information to her. Today’s woman is not the same as the self delusional supermom from the
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1980’s who is frazzled and stressed from trying to have it all. Instead, women are now
improvisational. She picks what is important and worries about the rest later. Therefore instead
of attempting to bail her out of a bad day, show her how choosing your product can make a good
day even better by delivering priceless benefits such as free time, extra ease of use, relaxation,
fun, and/or family time.
The feminine species is more emotional than men. Therefore, they are more likely to
choose emotional benefits before functional. Women are empathetic therefore, a coffee maker
with a start brew timer set for the next morning can insert the phrase “Finally, someone who gets
up before you do” into an advertisement (Barletta, 2006, p.167). Having a corporate halo will
provide visibility and good vibes. A corporate halo is simply showing the public that you are
concerned about something other than making a profit by contributing to communities,
organizations, earth, etc. In other words, it is the same as upholding your corporate social
responsibility. Starbucks are a great example of a corporation upholding social responsibility.
This corporation implements social responsibility in their mission statement, perform tasks that
are environmentally safe, and help communities around the nation.
When marketing to women, one should attempt to be transparent instead of pink. If a
marketing program is characterized as “for women only’ it is likely to backfire with both
genders. Men will feel that the product is “girly” and women will get suspicious. Marketing to
women is not as simple as placing a woman on a piece of advertisement. Vision, colors, hearing,
touch, and smell affect middle-class women. This can be referred to as sensory reception.
Women are more inclined to base their opinions on their senses than men. “With women, all
senses are on alert” (Quinlan, 2003).
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Women would rather be able to touch and feel products. “A study conducted in Sprint
Cellular Retail Stores revealed that whereas men were content to examine the phone behind
glass, women wanted to handle them to assess weight and ‘hand feel’.” (Barletta, 2006). Midclass women are likely to go to places that feel and smell clean. Women want to feel relaxed and
this cannot be achieved in an uncomfortable and/or foul environment. “As women walk through
the door of you store, they observe everything about the store environment” (Quinlan, 2003, p.
95). Jiffy Lube is attempting to provide a better environment for the female clients by
redesigning their waiting rooms. So let’s follow their lead by “clean[ing] up the grime and
add[ing] a little shine” (Barletta, 2006, p 192).
Wisely choose the spokeswoman. Women would rather see a spokesperson that is not
perfect. Oprah, for example, is one of the most widely admired women in America. Women love
the fact that she struggles with some of the same things she does. “Research is starting to show
that women trust editorial content more than ads” (Business Week, 2008). Dell’s marketing
representatives were aware of this. Therefore, their Pocket DJ and thirty-inch LCD TV made it to
Oprah’s Favorite Things Shopping List in November. In result, “...70% of Dell’s plasma sets
were sold in the weeks after the list appeared on an Oprah show in November” (Business Week,
2008).
In conclusion, middle-class women are definitely worth examining for a potential target
market for your product or business. They are now the largest consumers in countless categories.
Overlooking this thriving consumer market could be detrimental to even the best of companies.
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