THE SHIFTING ROLE OF WOMEN IN PURCHASING POWER EVOLUTION:EVIDENCE FROM TURKISH RETAI

Abstract

Women empowerment became a significant part of all modern societies; the global gender gap has become one of the most critical issue worldwide. The more developed the country is, the narrower the gap becomes. Thus, minimizing the gender gap will lead to women empowerment and will affect many aspects. One of the essential aspects is women purchasing power which this research is discussing from a marketing point of view, that is focused on the number of goods a consumer can buy. Nevertheless, many marketing global reports focus on women purchasing power, some of those reports and research studies are regionally specific, and few types of research engaged in studying Middle Eastern women in general and Turkish women in specific. In the marketing domain, determining the exact consumer will lead to an effective marketing strategy. This research aims to determine the Turkish women's role in the retail market by studying their primary buying behaviors as who is shopping frequently to other family members, then studying their influence on their partners ’decision. Moreover, learning about the influence of Marketing Mix which determines the satisfaction of the Turkish consumer. sati. In this descriptive research, women purchasing role in Turkish families were discovered by distributing a questionnaire to 345 Turkish individuals (male and female). The research found that Turkish women are the leading decision-makers and the main purchasing power behind many recurring goods. Furthermore, the research found that Turkish consumers prefer buying from shops and stores directly except for clothes where Turkish women prefer the online shopping. In addition, the research found that the variety of products and the efficient promotions are among the most critical aspects of Turkish consumers ’marketing mix.