Powerful single women affect advertising models

"The single LSM 8-10 woman continues to grow as a market segment. The figures show 73% of women polled aged between 18 and 44 are single and 66% of them work," says Delia van Staden, head of the Insights unit, which spearheads the CCS research in South Africa.

"These women are independent, mostly unwilling to compromise on their lifestyles and are responsible for a substantial portion of the purchasing decisions made in South Africa. The research showed us that the higher LSM single women are focused on success and realises the importance of planning, rather than reliance. She works hard now so that she can enjoy success later."

Key findings

The 2011 study sample consisted of 3000 nationally representative adults in the LSM 4-10 category. Key findings for women in the LSM 8-10 category held that:

• 73% were aged 18-44
  
• 52% of the 73% were aged 18-34
  
• 50% held full-time employment
  
• 9% worked part time
  
• 7% were self-employed
  
• 47% were single and
  
• 58% did all household purchases

Findings for specifically single women held that:

• 22% were just starting to build a career and home
  
• 51% focused on work over family
  
• 74% said that the effort they put in now, would lead to success in the future
  
• 20% were students who enjoyed studying and socialising
  
• 65% said that they worked in order to pay the bills
  
• 31% were actively looking for employment

"Our single woman enjoys shopping, but because she does not have much time for it, she schedules her spending sprees for the weekend when she is less pressured," continues Van Staden.

"Like most people, she feels like there is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything she wants to do, so she feels rushed and pressured. She even leaves home early and works late in order to achieve her goal of success, and she is very likely to work hard during the week and leave socialising for weekends."

Capturing attention

So how does one access the mind and imagination of these women and which media channels are likely to capture her attention?

"TV scores the highest in terms of interaction, while radio advertising is noticed and influences her decision. Magazines score well on recall, and is also highly influential.

"The role of shopping mall media is key to her. She notices, recalls, trusts and is influenced to buy the product advertised in this media format."

CCS further found that the LSM 8-10 woman was likely to notice, recall and be influenced by online advertising, she noted and trusted billboard wraps and noticed and was influenced to buy products advertised in washrooms. On-screen advertising in the cinema also rated high for recall and trust, influencing her opinion and influencing her to buy.

Naturally, she is a deft multitasker and is likely to be cooking, chatting or working online while watching television.

"We can see that she is busy, making it more difficult to grab and hold onto her attention when she is watching television. CCS tells us that 61% of this market pays more attention to the ads placed first or last in the commercial break so this is the prime place to reach her," concludes Van Staden.