65% of Product Feedback Comes from Women

Yesterday, Pete Blackshaw posted a collection of his best ClickZ posts for CMOs. If you aren't a believer in social media yet, buzz through them and see if you don't come away with a new perspective.

A women's fun fact stood out for me on his Third Moment of Truth post. Pete was the founder of Planet Feedback, a site to give consumers a place to air their complaints. According to him 65% of those providing feedback were women, and that for the most part, they played nice. (Judy's Book also found that true.)

"Consumers who like to talk to (even complain about) brands talk across multiple platforms, including message boards, blogs, and the water cooler. They are über content creators and, hence, more valuable to the brand franchise.

Consumers who talk to brands are full of suggestions, product ideas, even advertising concepts. Did someone say "co-creation"?

Most consumers believe brands have little interest in hearing what they have to say; this is a big reason so much venom is spread across CGM venues.

Women, the segment Lafley singled out, are the segment most inclined to provide feedback. Nearly 65 percent of all PlanetFeedback content was created by women, and they were far less likely to just complain than men."

Is it a big leap of faith to say that 65% of ALL feedback (on ALL types of platforms) come from women? When you consider that that the feedback is over consumer goods and that women buy or influence 80% of them, probably not. Why would you give feedback on a shopping/buying/using experience if you didn't do the shopping/buying/using? Also, who talks, phones, emails... stays connected more... men or women? The platform may change, but the need to communicate, doesn't. What's your guess that more word of mouth happens off line that online?

The point of Pete putting all of his posts together was to drive home the message that the consumer is in control. What is JUST emerging now (in statistics) is that most controlling consumers are "female," and they "want to buy green products."

- Women buy/influence 80% of the stuff.  CHECK
- Women talk 65% more about what they buy than men. CHECK 
- Women say nicer things than nasty things. CHECK
- Women are more "green" than men. CHECK

Now that we have the 65-80% of the market defined, to learn how to influence them? Stay tuned. For you consumers reading this post, just keep on talking and saying nice things about those who are doing the right things.