[娛樂時尚] 女性經濟:女人想要什麼？

The female economy: What women want

Women account for 64% of the $18.4 trillion spent annually on consumer goods around the world. Pretty soon more women will be working in this country than men. Women already control half the wealth in the United States, and they will be responsible for roughly $5 trillion in additional earned income globally over the next five years. Welcome to the dawn of the female economy.

And yet many companies are ignoring, downplaying, or patronizing this fast-Growing group of consumers. That's one of the key findings in a new book by the Boston Consulting Group's Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre called Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World's Largest, Fastest-Growing Market.

Silverstein, a former journalist and close cultural observer whose previous books include Trading Up: The New American Luxury and Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, talked with Fortune about Women Want More, which is based on the findings of a survey of more than 12,000 women in 22 countries. (To take the survey, click here.)

What types of companies are the worst at appealing to women?

The three categories (as ranked by women) in descending order of dissatisfaction are financial services, health care, and consumer durables such as cars, electronics, and appliances. In all three categories, the providers effectively diss women.

Almost every financial services firm has a high-ranking female executive who's in charge of their women's initiative. But without exception they are all misunderstanding what is the appropriate way to speak to women. They think if they provide women with a cocktail hour and a chance to have a conversation with their peers, that creates a product and service that works for women.

They don't have a female-driven market research function. They don't calculate the share of affluent females. They don't have a marketing program that says, I'm going to understand your needs and configure products, and services to meet those needs, and explain them to you in language that you can understand.

Can you give some specific examples?

Women don't buy life insurance -- because no one is trying to sell it to them. Most men have life insurance outside of what they get at work. Women do not. Yet the economic catastrophe of a woman dying when she has young children to support is as great as it is for a man.

How about in the non-financial arena?

Air-conditioning repairmen still talk down to women. So do car dealers. Water heaters are considered an item of mystery and intrigue. Moms manage 85% of health care purchases, yet doctors show little respect for her time. They make her sit in waiting rooms for hours.

Despite women's growing financial power, they still earn about 68% of what men earn. But that income gap is closing. Can you talk about that a bit?

In 28% of two-income U.S. households, she makes more money than he does. If you were to stop 100 people ages 25 to 30 in Manhattan, more than half the women would make more money than the men. There are 1 million high-income women in the U.S., earning more than $250,000 a year.

What is the "crater effect"?

It contributes to the disparity in pay. She's making more money than he does right out of college. Then she has a baby, and she's still making more money. But there's some percentage of fast-tracking women who drop out of the labor force. And there are no 17 months of paid parental leave (like in Sweden) and no easily available, inexpensive day care.

She falls behind. Then when she tries to re-enter the workforce, there is no guarantee that the job she left is available to her at comparable pay, and often she has to drop down in pay. One reason why women have less secure retirements is there are these eight-to-20 years where they've been "cratered" out of the work force.

What were some of your most surprising findings?

Women rank pets, sex, and food -- in that order -- as the things that make them happiest.

The No. 1 thing women want more of is time. (Money and love rank second and third.)

When asked, "What can your husband or partner do that would make you happier?" they responded: Take me on a date, do a chore at home, and listen to me without solving my problem.

When are women most happy and least happy?

Women who are young and single are happiest. Then they get married and they are less satisfied. Then they have their first child and they are at the bottom of the V-curve. They only come out of it when their child grows up slightly and is not 100% dependent on them. Their happiness becomes close to but not equal to their single days 20 years later.

What impact will the female economy have on our lives?

The balance of power will change in favor of women, and so will the way products are developed and marketed. Women will gain share in politics and have more say over the political agenda. The female economy will contribute to leading the world out of the economic crisis.

全球範圍內，女性每年購買的消費品佔全年18.4萬億美元總消費的64%。不久以後，美國女性員工的數量就會超過男性。女性已經掌握了美國一半的財富。未來五年中，女性將在全球創造約5萬億美元新增收入。歡迎來到女性經濟的時代。

然而現在，很多公司還不夠重視這個快速增長的消費羣體。這樣一個重要發現來自波士頓諮詢集團（Boston Consulting Group）邁克爾•西爾弗斯坦（Michael Silverstein）和凱特•沙爾（Kate Sayre）的新著：《女人想要更多：如何佔領全球迅速增長的最大市場》。

西爾弗斯坦以前當過記者，非常關注文化方面的動向。他的著作有《消費升級：美國新奢華》（Trading Up: The New American Luxury and Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer）。《女人想要更多》一書是基於一項對來自全球22個國家12，000名女性進行的調查結果寫成的。西爾弗斯坦接受了《財富》關於這本書的採訪。

哪些公司最不受女性歡迎？

（根據女性觀點）最不滿意的三種依次是：金融服務、醫療保健和耐用消費品，比如汽車、電子產品和家電。這三種行業對女性都有歧視。

幾乎所有金融公司都有一名女性高級主管，處理與女性相關的創意。但毫無例外的是，他們都誤解了什麼是與女性交流的最好辦法。他們認爲，只要爲女性提供雞尾酒時間、和同事交談的機會就萬事大吉了。

他們沒有設立女性驅動的市場調查機構，沒有計算富裕女性所佔的比例，也沒有一個營銷計劃來了解女性需求、爲女性量身訂做產品或服務、並以女性能理解的語言進行解釋。

您能舉一些具體的例子嗎？

女性不購買人壽保險——因爲沒有人向她們推銷。大部分男性除工作相關的保險外還有人壽保險。女性就沒有。但如果女性在孩子還年幼時意外死亡，造成的經濟損失與男性死亡的損失一樣大。

非金融領域呢？

空調修理人員和女性交談時依然用的是高高在上的態度。汽車推銷商也是這樣。熱水器對女性來說是一種很神祕、很複雜的物品。女性掌握着85%的醫療保健產品購買權，然而醫生卻不夠尊重女性，經常讓女性候診時等很久。

儘管女性的財政權力越來越大，她們收入仍然只有男性的68%。但是這個收入差距正在逐漸縮小，您能談談這點嗎？

美國28%的雙職工家庭中，女性收入要高於男性。如果你在曼哈頓隨機調查100名25至30歲間的人，一半以上的女性收入高於男性。在美國有1百萬高收入女性，年收入超過25萬美元。

什麼是“切口效應”？

“切口效應”導致了支付差距。大學畢業開始，女性的收入就高於男性。接着，女性生了小孩，還在賺更多的錢。但是有一部分女性因此停止了工作。並且在美國沒有17個月的帶薪育兒假（瑞典就有），好的日託不好找，而且費用高昂。

於是女性開始逐漸落後。當她想重新進入職場時，沒人能保證她能找到與離職前報酬相當的工作。多數情況下，她的報酬有所下降。女性退休生活不如男性有保障的原因之一就是她們有8到20年時間被“切除”出了勞動力大軍。

你們最令人驚訝的發現是什麼？

在女性看來，最能讓她們高興東西的依次是寵物、性和食物。

女性最想要的東西是多點時間。（錢和愛情排在第二、第三位。）

當被問道：“你的丈夫或伴侶做什麼最令你們開心”時，她們的答案是：和我約會、做家務、聽我抱怨而不是試圖解決我的問題。

女性最幸福和最不幸福是什麼時候？

年輕的單身女性是最幸福的。結婚後，她們開始對生活越來越不滿意了。有了第一個小孩時，她們幾乎是位於這個V型曲線的最底端。當孩子逐漸長大，不再百分百地依賴她們時，她們纔開始逐漸走出谷底。20年後，她們的幸福感開始比較接近單身時，但還沒有年輕時那麼強烈。

女性經濟將對我們的生活產生什麼影響？

權力、產品的開發和營銷這三者的平衡都會開始向女性傾斜。女性將會更多地參政，在政治議程中也會有更大發言權。女性經濟將會有助於引導世界走出經濟危機。