Dr. Bob Deutsch

In my work as a cognitive anthropologist I study how the mind works, how people “make meaning,” how people form attachments and loyalties to things, how people make decisions.  Decisions like how to select what to invest in, whether products or mates; why and under what conditions, people prefer Coke over Pepsi (or vice versa), Charmin over Cottonelle; why a person goes for one type of reward and not another; why a person believes in one God over another. 

In that search I have inadvertently uncovered something about viva la difference – WOMEN CYCLE, MEN CONSUMMATE.  Marketers need to understand the implications of this difference to maximize customer engagement and commitment.

The male is oriented to the present, the concrete, the visual, the “hit,” the win, the “me.”  Evolutionarily speaking, the male must bring home the bacon.  No Dilly-Dallying.  No excuses.  The male lives in the immediate, the “now.”

The female is oriented to the conceptual, to the underlying dynamics, to the relationship between things, and to stability over the long-term.  The female understands and sees patterns over time.

Males and females both think of themselves as pragmatic, and pragmatism is intimately tied to loyalty.  However, a man and a woman are pragmatic in completely different ways.   

Males act and say things like, “You’ve got to act, you can’t wait too long.”  “You must know how to look at the environment, know what the data and specs mean.  Then pounce.”  “My goal is feeling powerful and getting peoples’ attention.”

Females act and say things like, “It takes time to have things in order.”  “I want to feel good about where I am and what I’ve done.”

“My goal is continuity, building positive relationships, and establishing long-term stability.”

For example, a Seattle couple that started a small business together has different ideas about inventory.  Wife: “I live to reinvest in inventory when I have cash, so I can buy stuff off-season and sell it next year at a bigger profit.  I also like to have inventory just as a customer service.”  Husband: “Get rid of inventory as fast as possible.”

Undestanding vs.Explanation

Females want to understand things and want to be understood.  Males are more focused on explanation.

Explanation entails seeing the world as governed by finite laws that humankind can direct through successive approximations. Understanding requires comprehending meaning from the inside out, in its unfolding.  To understand, the world can’t be approached solely from an intellectual stance.

In general, the genders have different ways of perceiving time, causality and power.  This implies six strategic principles to consider when designing offerings to increase customer engagement.  For each principle, males and females fall to diametrically opposite ends of a continuum:

1.PATTERN OR POINT.  Women are intrinsically inclined to perceive more than the metric of a product attribute or an instance in time; they appreciate the underlying pattern (idea) that gives rise to the fleeting moment.  Men look for and want explicit things that they can act on and display, now. 

2.UNDERLYING AUTHENTICITY OR IMMEDIATE APPEARANCE.  For men and women, biography (B), persona (P), and current contingency (CA) must all be factored in to evaluating what is rewarding.   For woman the sequence of these priorities is B, P, CA.  For men it’s just the opposite: CA, P, B.

3.QUALITY OR QUANTITY.  For women, bigger and more is not necessarily better; rather, a steady build is more compelling than an large, impulsive but short-lived response.  For men, size matters.  

4.CONNECTEDNESS OR INDIVIDUALITY.  Females prefer that communality supplant personal dominance; women appreciate the idea that we are all bound together.  Men like to display their individual prowess and win; that’s success for the male.

5.SOCIETY OR MARKETS. To women, numbers are not people; people have personal feelings and social intentions, and this is what society is comprised of.  Numbers are mere abstractions.  Males relate to markets as numbers because they can be counted and the “goodies” duly noted.

6.RELATIVITY OR ABSOLUTISM. Women tend to recognize that almost all issues have grays, and exaggerations to one side or the other only cover-up the reality of subtlety and nuance.  Males like to paint things in clear, black-and-white terms.

Male: Do what you set out to do and finish the job.  Female: Evolve.

Male: Achieve.  Female: Experience.

Male: Stay on top of things.  Female: Create good relationships.

Male: Get the biggest piece you can.  Female: Seek inner peace.