News & Announcements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
'Testosterone Decision-Making' Driving Fortune 1000 Marketing Programs
Study Shows Aggressive, Rushed, Short Term, Risk-Oriented Styles Rampant Among U.S. Marketing Executives
October 20, 1998, Newton, MA
A joint study released today
by Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research and Gazelle International
at the Conference Board's 1998 Marketing Conference indicates that men
and women's approach to marketing decision-making differs greatly and
that a harried approach to marketing decision-making may be a significant
factor in the poor performance of most marketing programs, according to
Dr. Kevin J. Clancy and Douglas Calhoun, CEO and President, respectively,
of Copernicus and Gazelle. See Figure I
"The Testosterone Rush: A Study of Senior Marketing Executives' Decision-Making
& Management Styles" found that most marketing decisions are rushed, rely
on little research, and focus on short-term results. These decision-making
patterns were found to be significantly more characteristic of male senior
marketing executives than of female senior marketing executives.
The survey of 293 marketing managers (144 men; 149 women), representing
a cross section of Fortune 1000 companies, investigated perceptions of
male versus female senior marketing executives by marketing managers that
report to them, in terms of 34 different aspects of decision-making and
management styles.
It was found that men are perceived to make decisions quickly (82% applies
to men, 48% to women), and are risk-oriented (81% applies to men, 53%
to women). They tend to be more externally focused, paying "too much attention
to what competitors are doing" (56% to men, 43% to women), and short-term
oriented (67% to men, 46% to women). Female marketing executives, on the
other hand, were perceived to be more effective in building consensus
when making decisions (84% to women, 60% to men) and more thoughtful in
their decision-making processes (90% to women, 71% to men), carefully
examining many options before acting.
See
Figure III
Overall, the study revealed that senior marketing executives are perceived
to make decisions quickly (89%), based on focus group research and intuition
(both 79%), be focused on short-term vs. long-term results (73%), and
always in a rush (65%). More than half (59%) are viewed as paying too
much attention to what their competitors are doing. Also, senior marketing
executives are perceived to overwhelmingly prefer to make the important
decisions and delegate the implementation to others (96%), and find it
easy to make major decisions (88%). Both female and male marketing executives
were characterized as having aggressive personalities, yet were viewed
as easy-going and enjoyable to work with.
See
Figure II
"We've long believed that most marketing programs perform poorly because
of flawed decision-making patterns based on rushed, subjective judgment
calls, rather than on studied, analytic, fact-based approaches used in
other business functions such as finance," explains Dr. Clancy. "The research
study confirms that a 'from the hip' decision-making style is rampant
— and that it is significantly more characteristic of men than women."
Calhoun adds, "All of the jokes you hear about men forsaking road maps
or cooking without recipes, standard fare in casual conversation and comic
routines, seems to hold true in the marketing departments of Fortune 1000
companies across the country."
" 'Testosterone decision-making' is no doubt a key reason why the average
marketing program today is delivering disappointing, unprofitable results,"
continues Clancy. "Not only is the decision-making process faulty, but
it also appears that men are too focused on quickly making the 'big' decisions
and not paying enough attention to implementation. Even the best marketing
strategies will fail without sound, thorough implementation plans and
practices."
To download a copy of the study, click here.
For more information, contact:
Ami Bowen, Director of Corporate Communications
(617) 449-4179 or ami.bowen@copernicusmarketing.com
About Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research
Copernicus, a marketing consulting and research firm, has set the standards
on the use of technology and science to create innovative, profitable
marketing programs. The firm's expertise areas include branding; segmentation
and targeting; positioning; advertising; marketing, advertising, and brand
equity measurement; best practices for marketing process improvement;
simulated test marketing; forecasting; direct mail and database modeling;
and marketing research. Clients include AT&T, Clorox, Dunkin' Donuts,
France Telecom, Green Mountain Energy Resources, Hewlett-Packard, LEGO,
Mobil, Nasdaq Stock Market, Novartis, Pepsi, Pfizer, Saks, and Universal
Studios.
About Gazelle International, Inc.
Gazelle International, Inc. was founded on the simple premise that there
is a better, less expensive way to collect and process data for market
researchers. Companies turn to Gazelle as an outsourcing solution for
data collection, coding, data entry, data processing, and a wide range
of research needs. The firm has offices and dedicated research personnel
spanning two continents, and affiliations and experience in the Canadian,
South American, European, and Asian markets.