• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 20, 2016

A new study from J. Walter Thompson entitled Women Next explores the future of the female consumer. From witchcraft and black beauty to sex after 70, ganjapreneuring, ethical lingerie and solo travel, the women of tomorrow are very different from their mothers and their grandmothers. 

The study comes from J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group and explores the needs, aspirations and motivations of the female consumer of the future. The report confronts a popular critique from female consumers who say brands have not adjusted their messaging to accommodate the more modern and diverse experiences of women today.  

Aiming to solve this disconnect between brand and consumer, the 200-page Women, Next study offers a roadmap for brands that want to be clued in. It examines female consumers through nine lenses, including “Women & Sex,” “Women, The Body & Beauty,” “The Next Billion” and more. 

Highlights of original findings from the report include: 

- Among women without children, 84% of gen X women say they are happy without children, and 86% of gen X women say that if they ultimately do not have children, they’re okay with that. 

-  52% say they worry about how women are depicted in adult-themed content/pornography, and 63% say they would watch more of this content if it were more female-friendly. 

- 82% of gen Z girls say that girls their age are encouraged to be perfect more than boys, and 47% say they are less encouraged to be vocal about their opinions. 

- 28% of Millennials, and 27% of boomers, expect to remain sexually active into their 80s or 90s. 

Insights in “Women, Next” are derived from data culled from a July 2016 study conducted by J. Walter Thompson’s research unit SONAR that surveyed 1,300 female consumers. With this SONAR data and other data points from global research centers, the report explores how trends in female consumer behavior today act as key indicators of where female consumers are heading, what they will care about in the years ahead and how brands can anticipate their evolving needs. 

Of the study, Lucie Greene, the Innovation Group’s worldwide director, said: “Women make up roughly half of the global population and have a booming spending power. Female consumers have long felt that brands and marketers do not listen to them, and we hope that this report can be a helpful step towards shifting that conversation.” 

The final chapter of the report offers a global view of the female consumer and leans on data from J. Walter Thompson’s “Women’s Index,” a research study conducted in November 2015 that surveyed 4,369 female consumers, age 18 and older in nine global markets: United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, China, Russia, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. 

“Women, Next” is the second half of a two-part project by the Innovation Group. The first half of the project, Glass, a pop-up magazine created in partnership with Getty Images, launched during Advertising Week in New York City in September.  

You can check out the study here.