There is no denying it; women are powerful consumers. They can make or break brands. Be it shopping for themselves, their children or their husbands, women play a dominant role.

Studies show women are responsible for buying 80% of the household goods. It is often played down, but women have a great deal of influence on the economy as consumers.

They have a lot of spending power!

No wonder television commercials and print advertisements pitch their stuff to the woman consumer, trying hard to woo women. Chhaya Momaya, Image Consultant, Life Coach & Grooming Centre, says, "It is very easy to convince a man, but very difficult to convince a woman. If you convince her, she is all yours."

What do women love so much about shopping? Chhaya says it is the clothes. Priyanka Jethwani, student, MMK College, Bandra, Mumbai, echoes her views. Priyanka can shop anywhere, anytime. "Wearing new clothes and carrying new bags gives me a high. Looking good has always made me feel happy."

True, new things -- clothes, shoes, bags -- excite women. But women don't just shop for themselves; they shop for their family, too. Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar says most advertisements are targeted towards children, even though are not the ones that will shop. Thus, mothers automatically become the target.

He says this is limited only to small products such as toothpaste, detergents or day-to-day stuff. "Women play a dominant role (in terms of advertising target) only for small items. Men have the decision making power when it comes to white goods such as air conditioners, televisions or refrigerators."

But at the end of the day, all products targeted to men and children would be eventually targeted to women. "Buying expensive products has now become a family decision. Here, women, even kids, play an important role," says actor and ad filmmaker Bharat Dabholkar.

Nisha Vazirani (42), who is working at Films Division, agrees: "Small household items are a necessity, I have to buy them. But when it comes expensive products, I often ask my husband to come along to shop."

Woman-specific ads are now the norm for some promotional campaigns. These ads have a strong woman-centric message and use colours and designs that attract and influence women customers.

Vijay Menon, founder, CEO, MobileNXT, says, "The percentage of pure women customers for mobile phones is about 15%. But if you include the percentage of women customers who accompany a male customer while shopping, the number goes up to about 30% to 35%."

Women customers not only constitute a sizeable segment of purchasers, they also play a role in influencing male customers.

Author: Kamiya Jani