Wishing our pal’s, their families and friends a great weekend as they observe the holiday.

- The Tradepal Team

(Source: tradepal.com)

(Source: tradepal.com)

In its’ fourth installment of Women, Power & Money, Fleishman-Hillard and Hearst Magazines have released their survey which highlights the American woman’s “sphere of influence”. The latest study revealed many of the newly adopted traits of women consumers, their new consumer mindsets and redefined shopping habits. 

Women in the digital age continue to evolve following the adoption of mobile technology, social networks, and the increase in marketing messages. With an ever expanding social circle of virtual friends, family and social groups, her sphere of influence has amplified beyond her home, career or family to a media channel as the receiver, influencer and broadcaster of information in the marketplace.  

Women are interested in expressing their ideas and also discovering from these shared experiences. This is evidenced in the sudden growth of the social photo sharing website, Pinterest and the growing focus on collaborative consumption services like Ridejoy, Vayable, Tradepal, Taskrabbit and Airbnb. 

Technology is enabling trust between strangers on a scale that goes beyond what was imagined through bartering, sharing and trading. This was noted in the study as from the years 2008 to 2011, there was an increase from 31% to 50% in women surveyed who claimed they regularly influence friends and family on purchasing decisions. 

What this means for brands is rather than narrowing their message, they must adapt to target a varied constituency of American women who view themselves as successful and seriously assert their role as decision-maker. Woman have shifted their purchasing criteria toward the practical, value-oriented with a greater desire for substance over sizzle. 

As peer-based influence continues to grow, the issue of how we can better manage our consumption will continue to evolve. The area of collaborative consumption is now hitting the mainstream media as prosumers continue to look for better ways to consume and not go back to their prior habits.  

While smartphones increase our ability to influence people, places and things through peer-to-peer sharing and location-based services, these devices are also helping to fuel collaborative consumption in many ways:

1. Immediacy: Smartphones facilitate instant communication when it comes down to peer-to-peer transactions
2. Trust: Matching mobile phone numbers helps authenticate peers
3. Payments: Mobile payments fuels the growth of peer-to-peer commerce
4. Reputation: Smartphones increase the use of social networks which in turn increase the social clout of more peers
5. Network effects: More people connected on mobile networks increases the adoption and the use of peer-to-peer services

In 2011 smartphone technology led the way toward fueling the growth of mCommerce as users opted for more advanced devices. According to the latest release from the International Data Corporation (IDC), by 2015 more U.S. Internet users will access the Internet through mobile devices than through PCs.

Car-sharing “Zipcar” Leveraging Mobile Internet

Photo source: http://www.morganstanley.com/institutional/techresearch/pdfs/Internet_Trends_041210.pdf

(Source: tradepal.com)

“We cannot run a linear system in a finite planet indefinitely!”, Annie Leonard bluntly states in The Story of Stuff. She even goes further by stating that recycling is not a permanent solution as it does not reduce the waste generated by the production cycle. The materials economy has impacted our wallets while our wasteful behaviors have devastated the environment. Her video compels viewers to evaluate their habits and to make a conscious shift in their consumption choices. 

Is our system in a crisis due to our old school throw-away mindset or are we transitioning into a new era of mindfulness where we make more conscious decisions as we evaluate their future impact?

Formerly reluctant consumers are now adopting the latest trend of selling seldom used items to offset the cost of being fashionable, pay bills or to giveaway rather than dump in landfills.The attributes we were raised on such as thrift, trust and goodwill are definitely making a comeback as the foundation of our communities. Consumers are increasingly adopting new services that allow peer-to-peer sharing, renting, and swapping. 

One intangible benefit from these peer-to-peer startups is they strengthen our communities while minimizing some of the negative impact on the environment. There is a lot of buzz happening around Collaborative Consumption, and 2012 seems to be the year where it might go mainstream, as evidenced by the NBC Nightly News segment ”In a down economy, sharing takes off”, as aired on Jan 15th, 2012. 

We consider “The Story of Stuff” video to be a founding block in the emergence of the Sharing Economy. It has been an inspiration in building our people-centric marketplace at Tradepal. 

(Source: storyofstuff.org)