Hearing And Listening

Women and men are different. OK, that's no surprise. But what you might find surprising is how these differences manifest in gender-specific hearing ability and listening behavior.

Women have a keener sense of acoustic response (science-speak for hearing) than men. Typically, she's comfortable with sound that is 40%-50% lower than a man's comfort level. This means she will turn the radio down when she hears a spot that uses the loud "Crazy Eddie" approach. She'll tell you that it's "irritating"-- it doesn't just irritate her sensibilities, it irritates her sense of hearing.

A woman listens with both sides of her brain simultaneously. So radio is an excellent medium to reach her with your message. She has the ability to listen to the radio, have a conversation and incorporate what she's hearing into her conversation. He, on the other hand, can only listen with one side of his brain at a time.

This difference becomes obvious when a couple is in the same car and listening to the radio. Ladies -- if you're talking to him and the sports update comes on, he'll typically turn up the volume and give you the "be quiet for a minute" hand signal. Yes, we all know that signal. He needs to focus on the radio. You're probably going to feel insulted and respond with a louder than needed "what's that all about?" -- which, by the way, negatively impacts his ability to hear the scores.

Ladies -- when he gives you the "be quiet for a minute" hand signal, don't feel insulted. He's physically incapable of listening to you and the radio at the same time. And if you have something important to say during the Super Bowl, wait until half time or the commercial break.

Guys -- the next time you have a disagreement with your wife, be careful what you mumble under your breath. She has a keen sense of hearing and will probably hear you. Unless, of course, you enjoy being in the proverbial doghouse.

Engaging Her

Did you know that the role of conversation is different for women and men? For her, a conversation is to share information and build or nurture relationships. For him, the conversation is to solve problems and establish or defend rank. Herein lies the basis for a lot of misunderstanding between the sexes. When a woman is sharing how her day went with her spouse, she doesn't need him to solve what he perceives to be her problems. She's attempting to nurture her relationship with him.

This is an important behavioral aspect for marketers who are attempting to reach women, because your communications are really a conversation. Your messaging will be relevant to her and motivate her if it enables her to build or nurture relationships.

Here's an exercise I recommend. Look at all of your communications from 2006. Now make two groups. In Group 1, place all your communications that engage women through a conversation that enables them to understand how your brand fits into her life -- how it assists her in building and nurturing relationships. In Group 2, place all the communications that solve problems or establish and defend rank. Take your time and be honest.

If Group 2 is larger than Group 1, you're not going to be as successful as you could be with women. If this is the case, take each of the communications in Group 2 and attempt to refocus the messaging from male-oriented conversation to female-oriented conversation.

If you're involved in radio programming, this distinct gender difference is the driving force in retaining and growing your female audience. Here's your exercise. Gather your shows. How many of them engage women through conversations that are relevant to her? Any show that uses loud conversations and attempts to solve problems or establish or defend rank will not resonate with her.

Women are powerful -- we comprise 51% of the population and purchase 83% of all goods and services that enter our households. Building relationships with us is all about conversations that engage us.