ABOUT THE SURVEY AND OUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
If you are reading or plan to read Women Want More, you may be interested in the survey that formed the basis of our research, the women who are featured in the book, and our research methods.
The survey. In 2008, we conducted a large study of women, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Global Inquiry into Women and Consumerism. To ensure both a rich response and a rigorous statistical sample, we used several polling methods and encouraged “viral” dissemination of the survey as well. The fascinating results are based on responses from more than 12,000 women in more than 40 countries who reflect every income level and many walks of life. The response rate of women in each of 22 of those countries was large enough to represent a valid statistical sample of the women of that country.
The comprehensive survey—consisting of 120 questions, multiple choice and open-ended—enabled the participating women to share their opinions and respond in detail about their education, income and finances, homes and possessions, jobs and careers, activities and interests, career goals, relationships with family and friends, shopping behaviors, hopes and dreams for the future, fears, and anxieties, as well as spending patterns in some three dozen categories of goods and services. (You can take a short version of the survey, if you are interested, by clicking the link on this page. Women only, please.)
The interviews. We wanted to understand individual women’s lives more deeply—and in more detail—than we could through the survey responses alone. So we conducted one-on-one interviews with women in ten countries. Michael and Kate, the coauthors of Women Want More, conducted most of these interviews. The nine women who comprised the research team were responsible for the rest. We connected with the women through our extensive professional and personal networks.
Many of the interviewees whose stories we tell in the book are well-known in their fields. Mary Ellen Iskenderian, Sue Brush, Denise Morrison, Robin Burns, Sheila Penrose, Hillevi Engström, Yukiko Nagashima, Josette Sheeran, Zainab Salbi, Lynne O’Shea Nellemann, Carol Evans, and Radhika Shapoorjee have allowed us to use their real names, and the descriptions of their lives and organizations are based on their input.
Many stories in the book feature women who have no special claim to fame, but their stories are compelling and representative of everyday women. Michael, Kate, and the team interviewed these women as well, but to preserve their anonymity, we changed their names and certain identifying details about their lives. We have called these women Nicole Green, Qin Liu, Annalie Lindstrand, Brea, Laura Meyer, Jeannie Clark, Diana Beck, Miranda Cardew, Dorothy Hastings, Jyoti and Sharika Srinivasan, Nina Kovaleva, Ayano Takahashi, and Ming Gao.
We thank these women for allowing us to tell their stories.
The book also includes many very short vignettes that are based on comments we gathered from our survey. The names of the women described in the vignettes have been changed, as well, and they are called Kathy, Banu Balaban, Rebecca Montague, Linda Welby, Karen Dunrack, and Lisa Bennet.
Finally, we have included a great number of short direct quotes that also come from the survey. In some cases, we have provided a bit of detail (such as age or location) about the women who were the sources of those quotes. We have given these women fictitious names because, as survey participants, they had been guaranteed anonymity. Among them are the women we named Allyson, Tanja, Danali, Lucia, Dagmar, Gemma, Maja, and Ellen.
Secondary sources. The book also includes stories we gathered from secondary sources—including newspapers, magazines, blogs, and chat rooms—because they illustrate the daily challenges against which women everywhere struggle and succeed. The sources of these stories are cited in the text of the book or footnoted. The women highlighted in these stories include Lorraine Menzies, Bao Bao Wan, Karyn Couvillion, Michelle Lam Chi-san, Baby, Oprah Winfrey, Jackie Spence, Janet Campbell, Sally McLean, Vincenza Sousa, Kacey Knauer, and Kathleen Hudson.
Company stories. We also studied 50 organizations—both for-profits and not-for-profits—in 13 fields of endeavor, to understand how they serve women. This research involved the review of public materials and BCG analysis of financial and performance data. BCG has a strict policy that requires that companies featured in any BCG publication be given the opportunity to review, comment on, and request revisions to the text. This policy was followed faithfully in the writing of Women Want More.
These companies are Amy’s Kitchen, Banana Republic, Barilla, Softtek, Cinemex, Curves International, Danone, Campbell Soup Company, Gerber, Goldman Sachs—10,000 Women, Haier, World Food Programme, L’Oréal, Nintendo, Nutrisystem, Origins brand of Estée Lauder, Harpo, Procter & Gamble, Sephora—a division of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), Shiseido, Wal-Mart, Weight Watchers International, Whole Foods Market, Zara, and Women for Women International.
Experience. In addition to the research conducted especially for this book, starting in 2006, the authors drew on the 40 years they have collectively spent working with companies and organizations in every category of goods and services and in thinking about and analyzing the attitudes and behavior of consumers, especially women.
Finally, the authors were able to take advantage of BCG’s worldwide network of colleagues, who added a great deal of insight, detail, and country-specific perspective.