Bye Bye High Wycombe, Hello Germany

Hey everybody and welcome to my last blog!

The big topic of last lesson was gender, although the meaning is clear, let us have a look at the definition.  It is explained as the condition of being female or male; sex. As we all knew are men and women totally different. If you go on warc.com, you can read some really interesting articles about the difference. So if you have time, have a go. I have done it and some are really funny and interesting. In these two videos, you can see good examples of the different behaviour. 

But there are also some evidences for the difference between males and females. Let us have a look at our brain.

As you can see on this picture is it divided into left and right. Studies have shown that men are more left brain thinking and women right brain thinking.  Here you can see some general characteristics:

Men	Women
Logic Systematic Numbers Practical Map reading	Creative Communication Emotion Holistic Thinking

On the BBC website I made a test whether I think more like a men or a women. Here you can see my result...

I am not going to comment this :D The test is divided into four parts. For example was I asked to measure my fingers...but there were also some other tasks. It would take too long and perhaps it would be boring to describe everything. But the test was really interesting and you should do it on your own. Go to the BBC website and try :-)

Let us have a look in-depth about the differences between a male and a female brain. Simon Baron-Cohen from the Cambridge University has studied the brain for a long time. Here you can see some results. 

Cell numbers: men have 4% more brain cells than women, and about 100 grams more of brain tissue. Many women have asked me why men need more brain tissue in order to get the same things done.

Cellular connections: even though a man seems to have more brain cells, it is reported that women have more dendritic connections between brain cells.

Corpus collosum size: it is reported that a woman's brain has a larger corpus collusum, which means women can transfer data between the right and left hemisphere faster than men. Men tend to be more left brained, while women have greater access to both sides.

Language: for men, language is most often just in the dominant hemisphere (usually the left side), but a larger number of women seem to be able to use both sides for language. This gives them a distinct advantage. If a woman has a stroke in the left front side of the brain, she may still retain some language from the right front side. Men who have the same left sided damage are less likely to recover as fully.

Limbic size: bonding/nesting instincts - current research has demonstrated that females, on average, have a larger deep limbic system than males. This gives females several advantages and disadvantages. Due to the larger deep limbic brain women are more in touch with their feelings, they are generally better able to express their feelings than men. They have an increased ability to bond and be connected to others (which is why women are the primary caretakers for children - there is no society on earth where men are primary caretakers for children).  

Here you can read more about it

We did a couple of activities. For example has Ruth shown as this picture for ten seconds.

After that we tried to remember as much details as possible. The experiment worked in really good way because the boys remembered fewer details and mentioned only general aspects like chair, sofa, and furniture. The girls remembered the carpet (plus colour), the striped pattern of the chairs or the picture on the wall. This example shows that girls are more descriptive and boys logical.

Now let us search for the linking between gender and marketing.  We looked at different advertisements (Lavazza, Lacoste, BMW, Lenor, Persil, Nivea, Uncle Bens, Bombay Saphire, Finlanda, Rimmel London, Sony). First it was our task to remember as much brands as possible because the different commercials were shown in a slideshow. General Brand awareness is obvious. Additionally there exists the tendency that women remember the first picture, men instead the last picture. The girls remembered in this activity more, too…

Secondly we had a look at different advertisements. Marketers are trying to keep the advertising for men as simple as possible.  Have a look at the picture on the right. 

Yeah, it is definitely for men…big letters, blue and “for men”.

Here you can see that Nivea is trying to attract women. The advertisement is complex. The women seems to be quite busy with a lot of appointments which need to be structured. 

It is not only a picture; there is a story behind it. 

This table shows the differences in marketing.

For women	For men
•     ads often are more detailed. eg toiletry ads.  •     women appreciate very fine distinctions, such as 5 different variations of shampoo-for curly hair, straight hair, oily hair, dry hair, etc.	•    Toiletry ads focus on a single product.  •     Men are likely to pick up on one or two very salient and obvious kinds of cues. (Free) •     Men think in a more macro way, and need to be shown the big picture.  •     Men are less likely to process complex metaphors.

Our last activity was a group activity. We should compare a website for men with a website for female. My group decided to compare the websites of Mac Make-up and Burton. Let us first look on the Mac website. Here you can see a screen-shot.s 

Yeah, it is for women. If you go one the website, you can see that there is movement all the time. Have a look at the colours, the products and especially the font. The font and the picture harmonise and they support the movement of the picture because it seems to be active. But it is not only the attractive representation (all the photos of the make-up seem like an invitation to use) of the products. They show also dressed-up models which are made-up. But the types of the models differ. You can not see just women who look like Heidi Klum or Kate Moss; you can see also Gothic girls. There is always a small story behind it because females love to interpret. Another aspect is the detailed description of the different products. You learn something about the lip-gloss and you know why you should buy it. 

So, let us have a look at a male website. We decided us for Burton, unfortunately the website is not really working. So I searched for another shop, here you can see the site

As you can see there is no use of bright colours. The layout is masculine and easy. There is no story behind. And in front of every product stands "men" to make completely sure that it is for males. The font is masculine and the website is missing real movement. The products are shown on pictures but there are no real descriptions. 

Well, that's it for today. If you have any comments, just write me. This was my last blog because I am already back in Good Old Germany. Although this is not a private blog, I would like to use the opportunity to say a couple of things. Thanks Ruth and the class for an interesting lecture. This module was definitely the best during my exchange. It was always fun and I wish everybody a Merry Christmas. So, what should I say finally...yeah, best wishes from Germany!

Greetings

Sabine alias Krusty!