The female economy is on my mind. That’s the subject of an upcoming book, Women Want More, that I told you about in yesterday’s post, “Why CEOs should do housework.”
A survey of 12,000 female consumers, by the Boston Consulting Group, was conducted to research the book by BCG marketing expert Michael Silverstein–as I was telling Tory Burch and our dinner companions last evening. The female economy is of interest to Burch since she, in a scant five years, has built a fashion empire with 18 boutiques and sales through 450 other retail outlets. (She doesn’t disclose revenues, but Mexico-based Tresalia Capital last month invested in Tory Burch LLC, giving her company a valuation reportedly around $600 million).
Burch is expanding her business, opening her first boutique abroad, in Japan, in December. So when I told her about Silverstein’s intriguing global research—such as his finding that Brazilian women are most optimistic of all women about their financial prospects–she was eager to hear more.
So here, for Burch and other global-minded marketers, are a few more stats, from BCG’s recent research…
Women in Mexico fall right behind Brazilians in optimism about their own financial outlook. Five years from now, say 89% of them, their financial situation will be better than it is today.
Women in BRIC countries–China, India, Brazil, and Russia–are most optimistic about “the world, your country and community.” Chinese women express the most optimism: 82% expect improvement. Among American women surveyed, only 39% do.
And who are the most pessimistic worldwide? Japanese women–in terms of both their own financial prospects and their outlook on their country and the world.
Hmm, yesterday’s Postcard noted that Japanese husbands do fewer chores at home than men in the rest of the world. Do you think that Japanese women’s pessimism and their mates’ disregard, domestically speaking, have anything to do with each other?