That was a great speech. After ruminating a bit, I'm still left with the sad thought that I have no clue how to put this information to use. I just went through my last 100 orders and 29 were women, so there's room for improvement. I just Googled a few variations of "how women buy on the internet", which resulted in a bunch of sites for little blue pills and Russian brides, I didn't find any useful studies. It would be a good reading topic if anyone knows a source.
Read "Why She Buys" by Bridget Brennan. It is probably one of the most enlightening marketing/consumer psych. books I have ever read. I seriously cannot recommend it highly enough. Also, it's not just about the female consumer--there's discussion about the male consumer psychology to put things into context.
Great book. If you like that (or really, even if you don't), I'd also recommend "Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior" by Geoffrey Miller.
It goes into the more general evolutionary psychology behind why anyone buys anything. I particularly enjoyed his early anecdote about what early humans would think if you tried to explain to them our concepts of 'money' and 'shopping'.
I'm not to familiar with evolutionary psychology, but this looks interesting (and it's on the Kindle for less the $10). Added it to my reading list--thanks!
Sure! I spent one semester back in college on a kick of reading about evpsych. Really, anything by Miller is great. Or Matt Ridley. Or Cosmides and Tooby. Or...
...Yeah. It's way too easy to get caught up in a cycle of more and more books.
I actually have asked customers - both men and women, but the main issue is that only a small percentage ever contact me for pre-sales or support inquires (which is nice in its own way), It never hurts to read academic or professional studies with a broader scope, though.
Bribe them. Give them a promotional code that gives them $5 of one of your other products, and let them give a $5 discount to one of their friends. You'll be able to purchase information about your target market.
Comments
That was a great speech. After ruminating a bit, I'm still left with the sad thought that I have no clue how to put this information to use. I just went through my last 100 orders and 29 were women, so there's room for improvement. I just Googled a few variations of "how women buy on the internet", which resulted in a bunch of sites for little blue pills and Russian brides, I didn't find any useful studies. It would be a good reading topic if anyone knows a source.
Read "Why She Buys" by Bridget Brennan. It is probably one of the most enlightening marketing/consumer psych. books I have ever read. I seriously cannot recommend it highly enough. Also, it's not just about the female consumer--there's discussion about the male consumer psychology to put things into context.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-She-Buys-Strategy-Consumers/dp/030...
Great book. If you like that (or really, even if you don't), I'd also recommend "Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior" by Geoffrey Miller.
It goes into the more general evolutionary psychology behind why anyone buys anything. I particularly enjoyed his early anecdote about what early humans would think if you tried to explain to them our concepts of 'money' and 'shopping'.
http://www.amazon.com/Spent-Sex-Evolution-Consumer-Behavior/...
*Caveat: I haven't read many other books about consumer behavior, so I can't say how good this is relatively speaking.
I'm not to familiar with evolutionary psychology, but this looks interesting (and it's on the Kindle for less the $10). Added it to my reading list--thanks!
Sure! I spent one semester back in college on a kick of reading about evpsych. Really, anything by Miller is great. Or Matt Ridley. Or Cosmides and Tooby. Or...
...Yeah. It's way too easy to get caught up in a cycle of more and more books.
Why don't you ask your female customers? Ask them how they found you? why they bought? what features of the product they like the best? ...
I actually have asked customers - both men and women, but the main issue is that only a small percentage ever contact me for pre-sales or support inquires (which is nice in its own way), It never hurts to read academic or professional studies with a broader scope, though.
Bribe them. Give them a promotional code that gives them $5 of one of your other products, and let them give a $5 discount to one of their friends. You'll be able to purchase information about your target market.
> Features...
Patio11 would probably suggest putting a question about benefits and experiences during usage in there too.