[娱乐时尚] 女性经济:女人想要什么？

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.

全球范围内，女性每年购买的消费品占全年18.4万亿美元总消费的64%。不久以后，美国女性员工的数量就会超过男性。女性已经掌握了美国一半的财富。未来五年中，女性将在全球创造约5万亿美元新增收入。欢迎来到女性经济的时代。

然而现在，很多公司还不够重视这个快速增长的消费群体。这样一个重要发现来自波士顿咨询集团（Boston Consulting Group）迈克尔•西尔弗斯坦（Michael Silverstein）和凯特•沙尔（Kate Sayre）的新著：《女人想要更多：如何占领全球迅速增长的最大市场》。

西尔弗斯坦以前当过记者，非常关注文化方面的动向。他的著作有《消费升级：美国新奢华》（Trading Up: The New American Luxury and Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer）。《女人想要更多》一书是基于一项对来自全球22个国家12，000名女性进行的调查结果写成的。西尔弗斯坦接受了《财富》关于这本书的采访。

哪些公司最不受女性欢迎？

（根据女性观点）最不满意的三种依次是：金融服务、医疗保健和耐用消费品，比如汽车、电子产品和家电。这三种行业对女性都有歧视。

几乎所有金融公司都有一名女性高级主管，处理与女性相关的创意。但毫无例外的是，他们都误解了什么是与女性交流的最好办法。他们认为，只要为女性提供鸡尾酒时间、和同事交谈的机会就万事大吉了。

他们没有设立女性驱动的市场调查机构，没有计算富裕女性所占的比例，也没有一个营销计划来了解女性需求、为女性量身订做产品或服务、并以女性能理解的语言进行解释。

您能举一些具体的例子吗？

女性不购买人寿保险——因为没有人向她们推销。大部分男性除工作相关的保险外还有人寿保险。女性就没有。但如果女性在孩子还年幼时意外死亡，造成的经济损失与男性死亡的损失一样大。

非金融领域呢？

空调修理人员和女性交谈时依然用的是高高在上的态度。汽车推销商也是这样。热水器对女性来说是一种很神秘、很复杂的物品。女性掌握着85%的医疗保健产品购买权，然而医生却不够尊重女性，经常让女性候诊时等很久。

尽管女性的财政权力越来越大，她们收入仍然只有男性的68%。但是这个收入差距正在逐渐缩小，您能谈谈这点吗？

美国28%的双职工家庭中，女性收入要高于男性。如果你在曼哈顿随机调查100名25至30岁间的人，一半以上的女性收入高于男性。在美国有1百万高收入女性，年收入超过25万美元。

什么是“切口效应”？

“切口效应”导致了支付差距。大学毕业开始，女性的收入就高于男性。接着，女性生了小孩，还在赚更多的钱。但是有一部分女性因此停止了工作。并且在美国没有17个月的带薪育儿假（瑞典就有），好的日托不好找，而且费用高昂。

于是女性开始逐渐落后。当她想重新进入职场时，没人能保证她能找到与离职前报酬相当的工作。多数情况下，她的报酬有所下降。女性退休生活不如男性有保障的原因之一就是她们有8到20年时间被“切除”出了劳动力大军。

你们最令人惊讶的发现是什么？

在女性看来，最能让她们高兴东西的依次是宠物、性和食物。

女性最想要的东西是多点时间。（钱和爱情排在第二、第三位。）

当被问道：“你的丈夫或伴侣做什么最令你们开心”时，她们的答案是：和我约会、做家务、听我抱怨而不是试图解决我的问题。

女性最幸福和最不幸福是什么时候？

年轻的单身女性是最幸福的。结婚后，她们开始对生活越来越不满意了。有了第一个小孩时，她们几乎是位于这个V型曲线的最底端。当孩子逐渐长大，不再百分百地依赖她们时，她们才开始逐渐走出谷底。20年后，她们的幸福感开始比较接近单身时，但还没有年轻时那么强烈。

女性经济将对我们的生活产生什么影响？

权力、产品的开发和营销这三者的平衡都会开始向女性倾斜。女性将会更多地参政，在政治议程中也会有更大发言权。女性经济将会有助于引导世界走出经济危机。