Gender-Sensitive Marketing Practices

The indicator assesses the proportion of the targeted service providers / sellers / sales agents / other businesses who adapted their marketing practices in a way that enables them to reach female / male customers more effectively. It is an indicator of how gender-sensitive the marketing practices are (i.e. meeting better the needs of potential female / male customers).

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of your target group members:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: In the past [specify the period], have you made any changes in your marketing practices so that you are more able to reach [select: female / male] customers? 

A1: no / yes

(the next question is asked to verify whether the previous response is correct; ask it only if the previous response is YES)

Q2: Can you please tell me more about the changes you made?

A2: _

1) no, specific changes to better reach female / male customers were not made

2) yes, changes were truly made – specify them: ______________

(note: if you know what types of changes the target group members might make, consider pre-defining the options + leaving another option: “other – specify: _____________“)

To calculate the indicator's value, divide the number of respondents who changed their marketing practices to be more gender-sensitive by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

1) It is recommended that you also measure whether such practices contributed to higher sales and if so, to what extent did they increase the sales (see guidance). 

2) Examples of gender-sensitive marketing practice aiming to better reach female customers include:

- an enterprise recruiting and training female sales agents to sell their products, who may be more effective at communicating the benefits of the product to other women

 - tailoring the marketing messages to the needs and interests of women (e.g. focussing on the time-saving benefits of a new technology which may appeal more to women than cost-savings)

   - conducting sales promotion events at a location that women (who may have restricted mobility) are more able to join (e.g. at a household rather than in town)

3) It is crucial that you discuss and clearly agree with the data collectors which changes can be accepted as concrete measures taken to reach female / male customers more effectively. For example, if the respondent says that during a promotion event s/he talks not only to men but also to women, this should not be accepted as a specific measure.