Over 97 per cent of women in Kenya contribute to consumer spending power in the country, this is according to the study by BSD Group and IPSOS Kenya in last year's Top 100 Most Loved Brands by Women.
The study said that more women control what is bought in their households and other places and more brands need to focus their attention on women and their consumer needs.
BSD Group Founder and CEO Eva Muraya said that from last year's study, they learned that the perception of the female consumer is fast changing, and is based on our study reevaluating her relationship with brands.
This has been very interesting for us to see.
There can be lots of assumptions, but the study is beginning to say wait a minute, this woman of today in Kenya is not necessarily the same woman she was five years ago.
"From last year's study, I think it was about nearly 40 per cent or more than 40 per cent of all smartphones were owned by women," she said.
She said that what was interesting in last year's study was seeing that 50 per cent of all households in Kenya are single-woman-led.
"So what does that mean for us in terms of how we communicate, how we are distributing how we are innovating our brands?" she said.
She said that if brands are to succeed, and if we are to interact with more local and foreign direct investments, we need to have a better understanding of this woman consumer.
Chris Githaiga, Country Manager at Ipsos-Kenya said that there are studies that show that women consumers drive the majority of the decisions that are made at the household level.
"So you know you need to focus on the women. 91 per cent of new home decisions are driven by women and 64 per cent drive the decision to buy new cars at the global level," he said.
Looking locally, she said, our studies show that at least 70 per cent of decisions are influenced by women.
"We've seen a change in terms of home dynamics so it's also important that the way of communicating and engaging with our consumers changes," he said.
