What Women Want

Book excerpt: The author of Why We Buy reports on the growing importance of women in everybody's marketplace--what makes a package, product, space, or service "female friendly." He offers a tour of the world's marketplace--with shrewd observations and practical applications to help everybody adapt to the new realities. Underhill examines how a woman's role as homemaker has evolved into homeowner; how the home gym and home office are linked to the women's health movement and home-based businesses; why the refrigerator has trumped the stove as the crucial appliance; why some malls are succeeding while others fail. "The point is," writes Underhill, "while men were busy doing other things, women were becoming a major social, cultural, and economic force." And, as he warns, no business can afford to ignore their power and presence--From publisher description.