7/1/13
Marketers have long used gender as a way to reach consumers. Financial services, automobiles, and insurance primarily targeted men, while domestic-related manufacturers, such as food, beverages, and cleaning brands, concentrated on reaching women.
Yet, in today’s landscape, men are increasingly likely to shop at the grocery store, unload the dishwasher, and plan their children’s birthday parties. And this shift in roles isn’t entirely from one gender to the other. Just because men are increasingly purchasing toilet paper doesn’t mean women aren’t doing so as well.
This blurring of traditional gender roles is reverberating across all marketing channels and industries, though the overall impact is still unknown. Many tried-and-true maxims no longer hold true. Men aren’t the only ones bringing home the bacon: 40% of U.S. children live in households in which their mother is the primary breadwinner, according to the Pew Research Center. And there’s no one “right” approach on how to market to women or men in this current landscape. J.M. Smucker has changed its iconic “Choosy Moms Choose Jif” peanut butter tagline to now also include the voice-over “and dads.”
State of Men
The classic macho man, personified by Don Draper of the TV series “Mad Men,” may still appear in advertising campaigns, but today’s man is much less about power and his paycheck than he is about being honorable and a good parent, reports JWT Intelligence. However, millennial men express some preference for the traditional male stereotype. Nearly six in 10 millennial-aged men (58%) feel as if their concept of manhood is no longer widely accepted in society, 65% say men seem less masculine than in the past, 50% believe men can’t be “men” anymore, and 53% feel there aren’t many opportunities to do “guy stuff.”
Meanwhile, although men and women are taking on more house responsibilities, there’s a difference in perception over actual work. One in two men, for instance, believe they are largely responsible for grocery shopping and cooking, compared to 10% of women who say their partner is the main grocery shopper and cook. Three in four men give themselves an A or B grade for performing household responsibilities, including taking out the trash and buying groceries, while 50% of women give their partners these high scores; 23% grade them a D or F.
Co-Parenting
The traditional notion that moms handle most of the child-raising duties is no longer accurate. Two in three dads would stay home full-time if their family could afford it, reports JWT Intelligence. One in three dads say they spend the same amount of time taking care of their children, according to Esquire magazine. And dads living in the West are more likely to share equally in child care, with dads living in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana less likely to split child care duties.
Dads rate themselves as doing a good job with their children, according to JWT Intelligence. Just 13% grade themselves lower than a B, while 28% of women give their partners a C, D, or F.
Emergencies are often a good indicator of child-care sacrifice, and 58% of dads say either they or their wives would stay home with an ill child, depending on who has the less busy day.
Meanwhile, men appear to have a better handle on the work-life balance. Eight in 10 (82%) feel they have a good balance of work-life responsibilities, according to Esquire magazine. By comparison, 63% of women feel they have a good work-life balance, according to LinkedIn and Citi Group.
Three in four men (75%) feel that men and women don’t need to conform to traditional roles and behaviors anymore, according to JWT Intelligence. Men still abide by chivalry in certain circumstances. Yet at the same time, many feel it’s okay for men to wear man purses, leggings, and women’s jeans.
Men are also encountering a heightened focus on their appearance. More than three in four (78%) say there’s just as much pressure on men to stay in shape as there is on women, and 76% feel there’s more pressure to be well-groomed.
Ultimately, these changing norms illustrate how marketers cannot rely on clichés and stereotypes to reach consumers. Just as there are growing numbers of channels to reach consumers, there are fragmented groups with differing viewpoints, behaviors, and beliefs.
CONTACTS AND CONNECTIONS: Citi Group, Catherine McManus, 399 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022; 718-248-4496; catherine.mcmanus@citi.com; www.citigroup.com.
Esquire magazine, Robert Scheffler, Research Director, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019; 212-649-4287; rscheffler@hearst.com; www.esquire.com.
JWT Intelligence, Ann Mack, Director of Trendspotting, 466 Lexington Ave., 3rd Fl., New York, NY 10017; 212-210-7378; ann.mack@jwt.com; www.jwt.com.
LinkedIn, Jonathan Lister, VP, North America Sales, Marketing Solutions, 2029 Stierlin Ct., Mountain View, CA 94043; 650-687-3600; jlister@linkedin.com; www.linkedin.com.
© 2013 Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR). May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher.