On your way to work this morning, while driving down the
freeway, did you notice any young women putting on make-up as
they drove? Seems pretty dangerous to me, but what do I
know, I'm a man. It may seem perfectly normal to a woman.
Craig Thompson, a marketing professor at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, wanted to learn more about these
frantically busy women, so he studied working mothers with
professional occupations. These women spend a lot of money
very quickly. They make purchases for their whole families,
and they juggle demands from children, work, husbands, and
their own needs. For them, time is precious.
Thompson selected seven women for in-depth interviews and
began each by asking
"Can you tell me about a product that is important to you?"
After a couple of 2-hour interviews, and an examination of
the literatures relevant to his subject, Thompson had
discovered some things about women we men should know,
especially if we want to design and sell products and
services they will value.
Women share an urgent sense of history which intrudes into
their emotional labors as mothers. Images from their
childhoods mingle with projections of themselves into the
future and supermom images nurtured by feminist literature.
Guilt is a frequent visitor. And so is fear . . . fear they
will fail to "be there" when their children need them; fear
that inadequate mothering will emotionally cripple their
children; and fear that choices made today will cause regret
and remorse to dog them long into the future.
Women feel responsible for the relationships in their
social and family networks. They feel responsible to enhance
the well-being of others, and they believe they must make the
sacrifices to maintain them. Frustration usually follows
close behind.
Woman feel responsible for holding their households
together, and their self concepts and egos depend upon the
outcome of these efforts. This need exposes the core of
their self concepts, and women feel exposed and vulnerable.
If their homes fall apart, so will they.
With such powerful emotions surging near the surface,
women often feel profound fatigue and a driving desire to
maintain control. For most, keeping on schedule becomes the
imperative of the day. Detailed planning and careful
adherence to the schedule organizes activities into a smooth
flow that reduces stress. But unexpected occurrences
sometimes ruin plans and amplify stress.
Cooking symbolizes a woman's involvement in the motherhood
role, and women frequently critique themselves based on their
activities in providing nutritious food for their families.
Microwave ovens are valued because they allow good meals to
be prepared in the time available to prepare them.
Income from careers is freely spent to provide advantages
to children that couldn't be purchased on a single income:
private schools, exclusive camps, outfitting for sports,
music and dance lessons, and so on. These consumption
choices become symbols of maternal devotion, and they lead to
a new understanding of career. Pursuing a career becomes a
way to provide superior maternal care.
Consumption is also often directed at creating a more
pleasant mother-child experience, but this goal often results
in unnecessary purchases and clutter in the house. The
clutter confounds mothers' efforts to keep a neat and tidy
house.
Mothers don't focus on objective characteristics of
products they buy, they consider the benefits these products
offer to their families. Valued products and services remain
in the background as a material support system to help
mothers create a more ideal family setting and provide care
for their children. A can of eagerly-eaten green beans, for
example, becomes a valued, often-purchased product because it
enhances the nutrition of fast food meals.
In spite of the hectic, emotion wrenching lives they lead,
the mothers Thompson interviewed reported a deep satisfaction
with their lives and their jobs. If the mothers in Thompson's study
represent the millions of women passing us on the freeway
every morning, then, thanks to Thompson, we now have a better
understanding of their lives which should provide insights to
spur our inventiveness to provide goods and services that
will help them accomplish their projects and soothe their
strong emotions.
Reference:
Thompson, Craig J. (1996) Caring Consumers: Gendered
Consumption Meanings and the Juggling Lifestyle.
Journal of Consumer Research,
22 (March), 388-407.
Customer Psychology Findings, by James Larsen, Ph.D.
Mothers in Need
An in-depth examination of working mothers reveals insights that should help us design products to meet their needs.