I Am Woman, Hear Me Shop

Who's the apple of marketers' eye? It's not free-spending teens or men 25-50. It's women, thanks to their one-two punch of purchasing power and decision-making authority. Working women ages of 24-54 -- of whom the U.S. has some 55 million -- have emerged as a potent force in the marketplace, changing the way companies design, position, and sell their products.

Women earn less money than their counterparts -- 78 cents for every dollar a man gets. But they make more than 80% of buying decisions in all homes. And women shop differently from the way men do: Females research more extensively and are less likely to be influenced by ads. "Today's woman is the chief purchasing agent of the family and marketers have to recognize that," says Michael Silverstein, principal at Boston Consulting Group and author of Trading Up: The New American Luxury.