What Do Men and Women Want in Advertising?

By: Selena McIntyre

We all know that men and women were created equal in the beginning. However, when it comes to buying habits, are men and women really from two different planets? This article will show you what type of ads appeal to men and women.

Women

Women purchase over 85% of all products. They also influence the buying decisions of 95% of all goods and services. Surprisingly, women purchase over 50% of all products classified as "male products."

Females pay more attention to details than males do. They always seem to notice when something is out of place or missing. Women tend to remember the exact arrangement of the furniture used in an ad, and they even notice the small vase behind the actors or models.

Women do not compete as much as men. Instead they are usually more understanding and sympathetic. Females also like objects of sentimental value. They like to feel special and unique.

Since women are able to use both sides of their brain more equally than men, they are able to communicate with others better. This will increase their emotional response, which will then cause females to purchase certain products.

Most women are very concerned about their appearance. They like to have a wide selection of products to choose from. An example of this is shampoo. It comes in varieties for dry or damaged hair, blonde hair, fine or oily hair, colored or permed hair, straight hair, curl enhancing, voluminzing, etc.

Women respond more positively to advertisements than men do. They also tend to believe ads more than men. For these reasons, research has shown strong evidence that advertising is most effective when it targets women.

Men

Males tend to see the big picture of things, and they do not notice details. Males love shortcuts and anything that can make their life easier. Men like objects that signal leisure and financial gains.

Competition is a common thing with men. They hate to lose, and always want to be the best.

Men do not want to seem concerned about their appearance or fashion. They are very concerned about their images. Males do not want to appear weak or to self-involved. For this reason, they like simple thing with few options.

More males are colorblind than females. They usually can not see red and green as two separate colors. For this reason, you should separate red and green items or text in your ads.

Men tend to recognize the Sponsor of ads more than women do. However, men also have a greater resistance to advertising. Males think advertisements are dull and boring (unless an attractive person is in the ad).

Colors

The colors you use for your advertisements are very, very important. This is because the colors and graphics in your ads capture the attention of your consumers. In order to produce an effective ad, you must make it appeal to your target market.

Studies have shown that men prefer bright colors and women like softer colors. Remember that men like simple things. The same is true with colors. For example, men prefer red to burgundy, or blue to turquoise. Most men only know the basic colors like red, blue and green. They do not know (or care) what color flax or salmon is.

Advertisements with yellow and blue are more effective with men than women. However, men like orange better than yellow.

Females like yellow better than orange and red better than blue. Orange is the least favorite color for women. Yellow and red is a proven effective color combination.

Blue is the most popular color for both men and women. Green is also a good color for advertisements that that target both men and women.

How can you apply this information to your ads?

When you create advertisements that target women, you can put a few more details in them. Be careful, don't go overboard. Too much information can be confusing and hard to read.

Advertisements that are designed for women are more effective at catching the attention of men.

Remember to make women feel special and important. Men like simplicity, so give them fewer options and more action.

Learn more about designing great ads, and find out what colors mean to your customers.

(c) Copyright 2002

Selena McIntyre has been a Creative Designer for BPS Outdoor Media since 1999. She has a Marketing Degree and several years of customer service experience. Selena has studied art most of her life and continues to do so now. She designs most of BPS’s billboards and has written several articles about the outdoor advertising industry. To see some of her work please visit http://www.bpsoutdoor.com/blog/ . Questions or comments? She’ll be glad to hear from you at nfo@bpsoutdoor.com