Females first up for family photos

Special Feature: The Female market

It's definitely a woman's world when it comes to taking family photos and the younger the woman, the more snap-happy she is.

Women under the age of 25 with a child younger than seven are the most prolific family photo takers, according to the landmark PMA Australian Consumer Digital Imaging Survey.

In fact, women of all ages - with or without children - take more family photos than their male counterparts.

Across the board, 60% of Australians who take family photos are women. The same percentage applies to women who own a digital camera while ownership of DSLR is about 50:50 between men and women.

Notably, 46% of women covered by the survey have advanced or proficient skill levels.

According to a new report Recent Digital Camera Buyer Imaging Behaviour Study from US research firm NPD Group, digital cameras are increasingly being used for video, particularly among social networkers.

NPD found 71% of 18-29 year olds, and 62% of men, versus 55% of women, reported using the video feature on their digital cameras. But what each group does with their video is quite different.

The younger consumer is using social networking more than other age groups to share their video. Thirty-nine percent of consumers under 30 years old who use video on their cameras said they uploaded to a community web site, versus 17% of consumers 30-49 years old.

Among those who use their camera's video feature, more than half of recent digital camera buyers said they are using their camera as their sole video capture device, led by younger consumers at 69% and women at 59%.

"There is a clear gender and age group difference for digital still camera video use that points to different opportunities to sell more digital cameras," said NPD senior imaging analyst Liz Cutting. "Viewing their videos on HDTV screens is a hot button among male consumers, while women and younger consumers weave video into the fabric of personal communication."

According to another NPD study - Women's Impact on Consumer Electronics Purchases - while women may not directly making some of the major purchases, they do have a lot of impact behind the scenes.

Women were more likely than men in each of the top five categories - which include point and shoot cameras - to be seeking an item on sale or promotion.

Among major technology categories, the survey found word of mouth tends to be the greatest source for women to gather information prior to purchase.

However, particularly among women involved in an LCD TV purchase, there was an even higher incidence of reliance on store displays to gather information. Sales staff were also a greater source of information for women shopping for LCD TVs than for other consumer electronics.

In their book "Boom: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer The Baby Boomer Woman - Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn claim that female baby-boomers (born between 1945 and 1964) debunk the myth that it is the younger demographics or male buyers who should be the focus of future marketing activities.

Mary Brown

Brown and Orsborn claim that next year "adults 45 and over, the majority of whom are women, will be outspending younger adults by US$1.6 to US$2.6 trillion".

InfoTrends' latest research from Europe shows that as the DSLR market matures, DSLR buyers are shifting from early adopter male hobbyists to female family memory keepers.

Many first-time DSLR purchasers are being motivated to upgrade from point and shoot cameras as a result of the shutter lag issue associated with them.

Although the early adopters and hobbyists were seeking the latest technologies, these new buyers will be more interested in ease of use, convenience, and competitive prices.

In essence, these consumers are seeking the functionality of a DSLR while maintaining the simplicity of a point and shoot camera.