Girls Love Gadgets

I mentioned in my previous posts a book I was reading – Microtrends by Mark Penn. Here is another interesting topic from the book:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, girls are more likely than boys to use mobile phones (88 to 83 percent), digital cameras (54 to 50 percent), satellite radios (24 to 18 percent), and DVD recorders (21 to 19 percent). Girls and boys use TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and PCs about the same. The only gadgets on which girls lag are portable MP3 players and videogame consoles – although even there, Nintendo made big strides in 2006 with the Wii, designed with girls (as well as boys) in mind and selling well beyond analysts’ expectations.

… But girls have become heavy users of technology. After all, the principal use of much of the technology today is communications, and it is girls – not boys – who love to communicate all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere, young Japanese women are also driving the market of kawaii (cute) gadgets. So the fact that girls like technology is not limited to the U.S.

But as I read about Wii, I remember the post I wrote – Nintendo Wii and the 80/20 Rule. Girls may be heavy users of technology, but do they spend more?

Take, for example, digital camera. (This is the area I know well.) Girls often prefer stylish pocket cameras, while guys are more likely to purchase the huge, expensive digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR). Not just DSLR, but accessories like lenses, filters and tripods. (OK, I know of some female bloggers who own DSLR, but I believe they mostly shoot portrait, and therefore require fewer accessories.)

Not to mention that women are more penny-wise - read "calculative". (Don't knock my head )

So, who spend more on gadgets? I have no data to draw conclusion. In any case, marketers for gadgets can no longer ignore the “girl power”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some gadgets designed with girls in mind:

Pink Motorola cell phone...

Red Sony digital camera...