"Traditionally, large ticket items -- like cars and electronics -- have been marketed to male consumers, but now more women breadwinners are financing large purchases for their families, and these women are less likely to seek their spouses’ recommendations," said Aliza Freud, Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks. "The purchase motivations of female breadwinners have enormous strategic implications for marketers. Brands should be taking a closer look at the differences between breadwinners and other married women to ensure their limited marketing dollars are effectively reaching women that are spending."

While breadwinners are more stressed about the economy than non-working married women (47% vs. 34%), they are also more willing to spend discretionary income and less likely to delay the purchase of big-ticket items. Even given the economic downturn, 47% of breadwinners are still planning to buy a home, 43% will purchase personal electronics, and 36% will purchase a car or home entertainment. Breadwinners are also more likely to continue spending more on little luxuries, with 61% reporting they will spend the same or more on makeup/beauty (compared with only 48% of non-working married women), movies (46% vs. 31%), dining out (42% vs. 31%) and jewelry (31% vs. 15).

The study revealed that spouse recommendation plays less of a role in breadwinners’ purchase decisions than in other married women’s purchase decisions for every product category. In fact, when purchasing personal electronics, more breadwinners considered friend recommendations (18%) to be the top driver of their purchase decisions over spouse recommendations (13%). In comparison, other married women were far more likely to base purchases on spouse recommendations (30%) than on friend recommendations (11%).

The survey also found other purchase drivers not to be the same among all married women. Breadwinners are more likely to consider price than brand, while non-breadwinners base purchases on brand more often. In addition, the study found that breadwinners’ top sources of information about new products are friends & family (72%), magazine articles (55%) and ads/coupons in the mail (54%).

"We found that breadwinners are heavy coupon users, both online and offline," said Freud. "Coupled with the fact that these women are increasingly looking to friends and family as resources for their shopping decisions, it’s evident that brands that put resources behind couponing and word-of-mouth marketing will better engage with this segment of female consumers."

For additional information or to view the full study, visit: http://www.shespeaks.com/recessionshopping

About SheSpeaks

SheSpeaks is the leading women’s insights and word-of-mouth marketing network. The company gives clients like Philips, Heinz, Oxygen, and others in the beauty, packaged goods and media sectors the opportunity to tap an engaged female community for consumer insights, product trial and measurable word-of-mouth outreach. SheSpeaks facilitates direct brand-consumer exchanges online and offline to foster relationships, cultivate knowledgeable brand ambassadors, and build goodwill for companies that have a real desire to understand women. SheSpeaks programs yield powerful, measurable results. For more information, visit www.shespeaks.com.

SOURCE SheSpeaks

http://www.shespeaks.com