I just read a great book called Marketing to Women by Marti Barletta. In the book, Miss Barletta says that 65% of all large purchases are made by women and that marketers ignore women at their own peril.

Being married now for over 15 years, this comes as no surprise to me. We are in the middle of trying to buy a new house and it was my wife that initiated and planned how we were going to do it. When we bought our last car, I had very little to do with what the make and model was going to be. Hannah had just turned one so my wife decided she wanted a minivan. All I did was look for the right sale and take her to make the purchase.

What’s interesting to me is the fact that guys care so little when it comes to making the most important decisions of their lives. They don’t care so much about the quality of the neighborhood they buy a house in or the fact that it impacts the quality of the school that their kids go to. They don’t care so much about gas mileage and car convenience.

As guys we do care that the car be fast, be big (safe) and look good. We care that the house our wife picks out has a good place to put the HDTV. We care that our mini-fridge has a convenient place close to the HDTV. We care that  the house looks good so we cut the grass.

A nurse practitioner I know in the mental health field half jokingly told me once that all us men care about is sex, food and sleep. I consider her an expert being that she is married now 25 years with two sons and one daughter.

I believe smart women can use this to their advantage and help their husband at the same time. My wife actually did this some two years ago when she wanted a dog. The problem for her was that I did not want the added work that goes along with raising a puppy. The thought of walking around with a dog at three in the morning has never appealed to me.

She tried appealing to various things: A dog would be good for the kids; Hannah and Alan will love the dog; Dogs are pure joy! It wasn’t until she hit my manly hot button that it clicked for me: Our house will be safer with a dog protecting it. From that point on all I could think of was safety. The extra cost, the vet bills, the kennel costs all went out the door when it came to keeping my family safe. 

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