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It's no secret that women like to shop for just about anything, so making a product attractive to them shouldn't be difficult. Lately, researchers and manufacturers have been paying particular attention to female shoppers in one area: the automobile industry.
At least 60 percent of new cars are bought by women, and at the recent New York International Auto Show, new vehicles from Infiniti, Ford and Volvo each unveiled details catering to women.
Infiniti's Around View Monitor, with cameras all around to show driver's blind spots, and the rear-view of the car would make parking easier, but the EX Concept car has not yet been introduced to the market.
Engineers at Ford put on high heels to make their cars more comfortable for women, while some workers wore pregnancy-empathy bellies to better understand the needs of pregnant moms when they are car shopping and driving.
While these ideas may seem revolutionary, this isn't the first time car companies have tried this tactic. At the 2004 Auto Show, Volvo introduced "Your Concept Car," a car created entirely by women for women. The YCC, a coupe with two gull-wing doors, including specific details meant to cater to women's needs. A sealed hood removable only at the dealership, electronic self-parking and hollow headrests that comfortably fit a ponytail may be cliché, but these features are undoubtedly leading the way for the newest batch of cars for women.
This year, Volvo upped the ante when it came to safety by adding a security device that can detect a heartbeat inside the vehicle. The new S80 comes with a personal car communicator, which drivers attach to their key ring. It uses two-way radio technology that will inform the driver if there's a heartbeat detected in the vehicle. If the car's alarm has been activated, the driver will know to avoid danger and walk away from the vehicle.
Researchers say that these new marketing efforts are working. Marti Barletta, author of the book, "Marketing to Women," told companies that to meet the expectations of women, they generally exceed the expectations of men.
However, there's a fine line between marketing toward women and excluding men altogether.
"Women respond best to conversational and informal ad pitches and spokespeople who are 'just like me,'" Barletta said in a recent interview for Ford's media department.
In a Mercury commercial, a fashionable spokeswoman asks the audience to "add" the car to their list, instead of outright asking them to buy it. This ad was a response to studies that explain that women don't appreciate a hard sell or feeling patronized when shopping.
When it comes to cars and women, technology must come first, then the savvy commercial will give buyers just what they want.
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