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December 03, 2004
Men= Early Adopters, Women=Early Majority?
Of course it always happens that it is quiet around here for a while, and then everyone begins posting all at once!
I wanted to point out an article that appeared in the Telegraph today, It doesn't have to be pink to make it work for me suggests that men fall into the standard "early adopter" kind of consumer behavior, while women are more "early majority". Early adopters tend to be more forgiving of a product's shortfalls, because they are fascinated by the technology and fetishize newness, whereas early and late majority consumers want all the kinks worked out before they'll take the time to learn to use a new thing:
Posted by Caterina Fake at 07:48 PM | Permalink
Comments
This statement:
"Men's risk-taking, entrepreneurial streak, and their better understanding of numbers, mean they have invented almost every bit of technology that all of us use, every day."
is simply archaic.
Posted by: kiri at Dec 3, 2004 10:30:08 PM
Yeah, I was going to talk about that, but I didn't have enough time today to write it all up so I'm saving it for a longer post. As an entrepreneurial woman, I took umbrage at that.
Posted by: Caterina Fake at Dec 4, 2004 12:41:23 AM
I agree with the sentiment, but for a different reason: men like to demonstrate their prowess externally. I think it's some subconcious "I'll make a good hunter-provider-protector" thing that manifests itself (for some) in flashy goods. After all, flashy goods say "I'm cool. I'm smart. I have money to spend on flashy goods," and of course "I'm better than he is." Women -- generally speaking -- don't have that urge.
Posted by: tiffany at Dec 4, 2004 7:47:47 AM
tiffany, I would dispute that; I think you can find any number of women crazy about "accessories".
Perhaps society/custom drives men and women to different *types* of gadgets, but to say that only men "like to demonstrate their prowess externally" is a bit blinkered, I think.
Posted by: Michael at Dec 5, 2004 6:44:29 PM
I like cool new stuff, but I do tend to wait to buy until it actually works. I don't see much point in spending money on things that don't work. I actually tend to be an early adopter for some things, and a trailing edge buyer for other things. If the price point is constantly moving downwards, there's not much point in buyng a good until it hits your price point. I can make an older product work just fine in the meantime.
And I won't buy pink stuff.
Posted by: donna at Dec 6, 2004 7:26:56 PM
I really love the "better understanding of numbers" bit. That just rubs me the wrong way.
Posted by: Jennifer at Dec 6, 2004 11:21:53 PM
I, too avoided pink. But now it makes a statement for me -- 20 years survival. So pink is ok -- as long as it is NOT my computer!
Posted by: Cheryl M at Dec 7, 2004 10:23:20 PM
Personally I love pink gadgets - in fact the more choice of colours the better as far as I'm concerned. I don't feel the need to prove my gadget-loving credentials to the boys - I pick my gadgets based on what I like and what I want - not based on what people will think of me or what message I think it's sending out. Sure, there's plenty of patronising products aimed at women out there, but there's a heap more aimed at men - usually based on sex, drinking, sport or someo other stereotypical male activity.
Posted by: Katie at Dec 14, 2004 4:55:16 AM
Whilst the "better understanding of numbers" bit is simply ludicrous and wrong-headed, I submit that men (at least in previous generations) do tend to be culturally conditioned to be risk-takers. This isn't "good" or "bad"; it isn't intrinsic to the gender either.
Posted by: N^2 at Dec 21, 2004 11:39:50 AM
That men are better at numbers is as big a load of B.S. as the
"fact" that women have larger vocabularies than men and are
more proficient communicators.
Also,there is so much societal baggage with regards to risk taking that
almost any statement about it is bound to be false, or at best,
non-sensical.
No no no. I just think that there is this silly almost world-wide
curtural idea that women ought not to get too involved in gadgets.
Thus women seek safety in numbers - i.e. it's okay if everyone
else (especially if everyone else includes a lot of females)
is using it, because I won't be an abberation if I use it.
Posted by: Wynand at Jan 8, 2005 11:55:14 AM
I'd like to know how I got here.
Posted by: Calvin Smith at Jun 19, 2005 1:29:27 AM
