
March 21, 2022
Giana Damianos – Senior Analyst, Syndicated Research
Women are powerful influencers in all aspects of social, cultural, and business leadership, and they dominate consumer spending, making around 70%-80% of all household purchasing decisions. But many advertisers are missing the mark in their portrayals of this powerful consumer segment. While gender identity has become increasingly important to the modern American woman in recent years, only about half of women say they’re satisfied with portrayals of their gender in advertising.
Read on and fill out the form for more insights from our American Women research.
Representation alone is not enough to prove that your brand cares about their identity. Brands today must evolve to effectively understand and engage the modern American woman.
Collage Group’s Essentials of Women Consumers explores three areas of our consumer fundamentals research: demographics, identity, and Group Traits to help your brand authentically connect with Women.
Key Insight #1:
Young women are especially likely to report their gender has become increasingly important over the past few years.

A Deeper Look:
The greater focus on intersectional identities over the past few years has made it easier for younger people to embrace and recognize the importance of all aspects of their identity, including the important role gender plays, especially in the lives of women.
Action Step:
Bring a nuanced portrayal of women today to your marketing efforts – relatable specificity beats painting with too broad of a brush here.
Key Insight #2:
Women across age ranges are more likely than men to say that the only achievement they care about is being happy with what they do.

A Deeper Look:
Many Women have begun to reject #GirlBoss culture and the pressure to prove themselves as equally ambitious as men. Instead, they’re redefining what success means altogether – and doing it on the individual level.
Action Step: Let go of traditional, patriarchal definitions of success and instead, portray success on individualistic terms. Acknowledge that women have the power to choose the direction of their lives – and the choices are as unique as the individual.
Key Insight #3:
Women are particularly mindful about what they say and how it may affect others. They are much less likely than Men to speak their mind if it might hurt someone’s feelings.

A Deeper Look:
Women tend to have different emotional intelligence (EQ) strengths than men, such as higher levels of empathy, greater mindfulness in interpersonal relationships, and a stronger sense of social responsibility–all of which culminate in conscientiousness toward others.
Action Step: Portrayals of Women should highlight their soft skills as their superpower–and steer clear of portraying emotion and empathy as a pitfall or stereotypical trope.
Key Insight #4:
Women often feel uncomfortable putting their own needs first and feel a stronger obligation than Men to take care of others.

A Deeper Look:
Women’s discomfort with putting their own needs first before taking care of others is likely tied to longstanding social norms and gender roles. This feeling could also be tied to lack of self-confidence or self-worth. Women’s sense of obligation may also be out of necessity, since Women often face more pressures and stresses than Men.
Action Step: Give Women the space and permission to prioritize themselves and help alleviate the everyday pressures they face.
Contact us at the form below to learn more about how you can gain access to these diverse consumer insights and much more in our Cultural Intelligence Platform.
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Giana Damianos
Senior Analyst, Syndicated Research
Giana joined Collage in 2019 from Indiana University, where she studied economics, political science and psychology. In her spare time, Giana is getting to know Washington DC and its historic architecture.
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Stay Informed
Sign up for Insights Weekly, our complementary bi-weekly newsletter for insights and marketing professionals seeking to unleash the power of culture for brand growth.
Collage Group is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).
©2023 Collage Group