Market research has long ago shown that women are the primary everyday shopper in the modern household, but increasingly women are taking on a greater importance to marketers of high-ticket items. According to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), cherchez la femme is a fast track to sales growth because women are:

• Keepers of the household checkbook.
  
  
• Holders of the primary credit card.
  
  
• The fastest-growing segment of home buyers.
  
  
• Purchasers of two out of three new cars.
  
  
• Controllers of the finances in 53 percent of U.S. households.
  
  
• The majority (51 percent) of the U.S. population.
  
  
• Achievers of 57 percent of college degrees.
  
  
• Decision-makers concerning 80 percent of household purchases.

Whether women have power over the family purse or wallet or are just doing the work men don’t want to do is an open question.

“Historically, men did not want to do it, and women weren’t working so they got that job,” says Marla Shepard, CEO of First Future. “They developed more authority because they knew how much money was available.”

“You can distinguish between writing checks and making decisions,” says North Island COO Geri Dillingham. “We know that at our credit union more women purchase checks and choose check designs than men,” but major decisions such as buying a home or car, she says, are jointly resolved.

“Women are also making more of the major decisions, because women are making more money than they used to and are better educated,” says Kathy Cady, senior vice president of member services at Cal Coast.

“We believe women handle more of the day-to-day finances,” says Linda Rossi, vice president of marketing at $300 million San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union. “But the data points to investment decisions as being made mostly by men. Writing checks is part of household management.”

— Rich Acello