Women wield formidable purchasing power, controlling approximately $5 trillion in spending annually.3

By 2014, women could earn about $18 trillion a year and control as much as $28 trillion of spending.4

25 million women live in emerging markets.5

Women represent the majority of college graduates—they account for 58 percent of college grads in the U.S., 60 percent of grads in Brazil and 65 percent of grads in China.6

More than half (51%) of U.S. private wealth is controlled by women.7

Across 22 forms of advertising “recommendations from people you know” is by far the most trustworthy advertising source for women surveyed in developed (73%) and emerging (82%) countries, followed by branded websites (60%, emerging countries) and editorial content such as newspaper articles (56%, emerging countries).8

The mom market is composed of 82.5 million moms and three generations of women raising children: Boomer moms, Gen X moms and Gen Y moms.9

71% of mothers said they use the Internet for product information, advice or general information.9

Moms represent a $2.4 trillion market.10

18.3 million Internet users who are moms read blogs at least once a month.11

77% of mom bloggers will only write about products or brands whose reputations they approve of. Another 14% will write about brands or products they boycott.12

90% of moms are online vs. just 76% of women in general.11

Moms mention brands an average of 73 times per week compared with just 57 times per week among males.11

54% of U.S. female Internet users said they feel a responsibility to help friends and family make wise purchase decisions, and half said they influence friends and family to buy—or not buy—a product or service on a regular basis.13

73% of U.S. female Internet users now use Facebook.13

65% of women followed brands on Facebook in 2011, which is up 12% from 2010.13

Globally, women account for 47.9% of total unique visitors to the social networking category, but they consume 57% of pages and account for nearly 57% of total minutes spent on these sites.14

In the U.S., women buy online more than men, with 12.5% of female Internet users making an online purchase in February 2010, compared to 9.3% of men14

Sources:

1. Greenfield Online for Arnold’s Women’s Insight Team
2. Marketing to Women Conference
3. “Women are Universally Edging Out Men in Most Shopping Categories, but Not all Female ‘Chief Shoppers’ Are Created Equal,” Vertis Communications
4. “Women Want More,” Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre
5. “The Potential of Women in Emerging Markets,” Hana R. Alberts, Forbes
6. “Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women are the Solution,” Rahim Kanani, Forbes
7. “Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better,” Maddy Dychtwald
8. “Women of Tomorrow: A Study of Women Around the World,” Nielsen
9. Girlpower Marketing
10. “Marketing to Moms Coalition, State of the American Mom 2011”
11. eMarketer
12. “State of the Blogosphere 2010,” Technorati
13. “Game Changers: Women Defining the New American Marketplace,” Fleishman‑Hillard/Hearst
14. “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet,” Linda Boland Abraham, Marie Pauline Morn, Andrea Vollman, comScore

Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases.2

Women control the purchasing decisions for:2

93% of OTC pharmaceuticals
91% of new homes
66% of personal computers
80% of health care
65% of new cars
89% of bank accounts
93% of food
92% of vacations