Women In Marketing: Succeeding...Naturally!

A Study of the Decision Making Styles of Marketing Executives

The Success of Women in Marketing
This study found strong agreement among marketers—of both genders—that women are experiencing success in
marketing. Eighty percent believe women are experiencing a greater degree of success in marketing departments than
in the past and 66% say their success in marketing is greater than in other departments. About half (52%) say they have
observed this success in their own department. This success, by the way, is despite the “glass ceiling,” which many
have observed: 80% of women, and 40% of men say they have seen it first hand.

Reasons for Women’s Success in Marketing

Indeed, the data show that the majority of female marketers have great aspirations. Fully 81% want to be “CMO”
someday compared to 68% of male marketers. As a corollary, women marketers are not any more likely than men to
seek a proper balance between career and family: 56% of the women, and exactly 56% of the men, say they might
settle for a lesser position at work in deference to the needs of their families.
So, why are women good at marketing, specifically? Respondents, both men and women, see two main reasons:
• Women “listen” to consumers better (because they’re better listeners, generally). This is cited by 54% of
respondents, including 52% of the men and 57% of the women in the survey. Separately, almost as many (45%)
say women understand the importance of “emotional connections to brands.”
• Women favor a “collaborative” approach, and desire to “influence,” but not command their colleagues, which are
the best ways to produce a successful marketing program. These reasons are cited by about 40% of the male
respondents and over 50% of the females.

Female vs. Male Decision-Making Styles

As in the 1998 study, respondents perceived major differences between the decision-making styles of men and
women. Marketers overwhelmingly attribute a collaborative and thoughtful approach to making decisions to women.
Women are much more likely to be described as “sensitive and caring” (88% say this applies to women vs. only 28%
say this applies to men). Women like to “build consensus before making a decision” (91% applies to women vs. 44%
applies to men). Marketers also indicate that they believe women are much more likely to seek advice from colleagues
“before making major decisions” (93% applies to women vs. 47% applies to men).
Women are likely to be perceived as “cautious” and concerned with “long term” effects, but the difference versus men
is not that great (79%–84% say these traits apply to women, 57%–63% say they apply to men).
In contrast, marketers attribute an autocratic decision-making style to men (86% applies to men vs. 45% applies to
women). Respondents report men were much more likely to make decisions without input from others (86% applies to
men vs. 37% applies to women) and to prefer a hierarchical structure (84% applies to men vs. 45% to women). Men
more than women tend to make the important decisions, but delegate implementation to others (89% applies to men vs.
53% applies to women) and to make decisions quickly (87% applies to men vs. 57% applies to women). Men were also
more likely to be described as “aggressive and assertive” (87% applies to men vs. 62% applies to women) and as
always in a rush to make decisions (77% applies to men vs. 46% applies to women).

A comparison of the current results to those from 1998 suggests that decision-making habits have become even more
entrenched and the differences between men and women on many characteristics even more extreme. Men are less
likely to be described as “sensitive and caring” (28% in 2006 vs. 39% in 1998 applies to men) or to seek advice from
colleagues before making big decisions (47% in 2006 vs. 58% in 1998 applies to men). They are more likely to make
decisions without input from others (86% in 2006 vs. 73% in 1998 applies to men), and continue to be thought of as
autocratic and assertive. Women, meanwhile, are more likely to build consensus on an issue before making a decision
(91% in 2006 vs. 85% in 1998 applies to women). They are also less likely to be described as “aggressive and
assertive” (62% in 2006 vs. 76% in 1998 applies to women).
Though the characteristic still applies more to men than women, both male and female marketers are in more of a rush
to make decisions today than they were in 1998 (82% in 2006 vs. 71% in 1998 applies to men, 52% in 2006 to 42% in
1998 applies to women).

Marketers report that tendency to “rely more heavily on intuition and judgment than research and science in making
marketing decisions” applies to men as much as it applies to women (70% applies to men, 72% applies to women).
Intuition continues to play a large role in decision making. Half do agree with the value of “intuition and
judgment.”
• Two-thirds maintain that they have “confidence making marketing decisions based on my own sense of what
customers will respond to (66%),” and 62% say they “tend to make decisions quickly based on my judgment and
experience.”
• Half say they “agree with Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink... [that] senior managers should rely more on intuition
and judgment in making major decisions.”
• A minority (27%) report that “rigorous analysis of unimpeachable data is what leads to marketing success.”

Nevertheless, 81% of male and female marketers say they approach decision-making “deliberately, examining
available data before making a decision.”
• 67% agree that “although large scale quantitative studies take a lot of time and money, they really improve decision-
making.”
• And 58% say “we need to conduct more quantitative research studies” than is currently the case at their company.”
• A minority (41%) say they “rely more heavily on intuition and judgment than research and science.”
In sum, marketers appear open to taking a more deliberate and disciplined approach, yet intuition maintains its
influence when it comes to making marketing decisions.

CONCLUSION:
Women are Thriving in Marketing
Based on the results of the study, we conclude that women have achieved great success in marketing and that their
success has been in large part due to the decision-making styles and characteristics such as a collaborative style, team-
orientation, facility with consensus building, thoughtfulness, and listening skills that are increasingly ascribed to female
business decision-makers. Clearly these characteristics are considered an asset within marketing and have been
rewarded in the form of increased advancement opportunities.
As women continue to increase their numbers and management influence in the field, they have the opportunity to take
marketing decision-making in a new direction. Traditionally, marketing has resisted conforming to the analytic, fact-
based approach to decision-making that is de rigueur in virtually every other critical strategic business function—from
finance to information technology to operations. Both female and male marketers are equally likely to rely more
heavily on intuition and judgment than facts and research to make decisions about their brands and many marketers still
view data and research as more of an encumbrance than an aid. As CEO and CFO expectations for marketing
accountability mount, women would greatly enhance their future career prospects if they lead the charge away from
gut-based to fact-based decision-making.