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Do It Yourself: Men and Women Motivated by Different Factors
FGI Research, in an effort to understand how homeowners are saving money this year, conducted an independent study on the subject of DIY projects. Social media sites are full of information about how to do everything from simple at-home repairs to large DIY upgrades. American consumers reported that using social media sites greatly increased their ability to do DIY projects. The social media sites they use most frequently include Facebook (29%), YouTube (24%), and personal blogs (15%).
Economic Downturn Causes Uptick in DIY
Of people who do DIY projects regularly, 28% report doing more DIY projects now than they did 12 months ago. The frequency of people doing DIY projects is not only increasing because of the educational opportunities on the internet, but also because of the downturn in the economy. In fact, 33% of DIYers said that they do more DIY projects specifically because of the down economy. Furthermore, 58% of people who do DIY regularly said that part of their motivation is expense.
Gendered Motivations
Our analysts also looked at differences in DIY preferences by gender. The majority of respondents who did ‘light DIY’ projects were women (69%); as opposed to those who said they do ‘medium and heavy’ levels of DIY, who were overwhelmingly male. Furthermore, women had performed only 1-2 DIY projects in the past 12 months. Most men reported doing 3-5 or more in the same time. The reasons why people chose to do DIY projects also differed by gender. 25% of those who said that ‘completing DIY projects gives me a sense of satisfaction’ were male. Of those who said their main motivation was expense, or that they ‘enjoy learning how to do DIY projects,’ most were women.
Actionable Insights
It is important to note the differences in appeal to both men and women when thinking about the DIY market. The main motivation behind a woman’s purchase of DIY products may be to save money or learn a new skill; a male consumer may simply be motivated by the sense of satisfaction he gets with a job well done. This could influence how a business markets to each demographic. Research into the differences in gender demographics, using targeted sampling and specific survey questions, can help inform marketing plans to each gender.
Next Steps You Can Take
Survey Methods
Date of Study: 8/24/2009
Total Responders: 259
Sample Source: FGI SmartPanel
August 25th, 2009 at 10:45 am
For the most part, males I have known have done DIY projects that fall into the modifying category: adding a stereo system to their car, altering a playstation controller with more rumble power, adding extra backlight to their tv, etc.
It’s almost like Tim Allen from Home Improvement days. Males want to add more power to their products.
- Peter
August 25th, 2009 at 11:09 am
My experiences with DIY is that most female DIY projects are home improvement/ decor improvement in nature. Painting a room, hanging pictures, refinishing furniture are examples. Males often get into fixing things and heavier repairs.
-Kevin
August 27th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I think it depends on the people. I have hung ceiling fans, patched vinyl, and put in insulation.
August 28th, 2009 at 10:30 am
The fact is that there is so much more information available on the Internet now for DIY’ers than ever in the past. A typical example……….I need to replace the door gasket in our Maytag Refrigerator. I would never have attempted this in years past, but now all I need to do is to get detailed how-to-repair instructions from a number of Internet sites that sell Maytag parts. In this case the repair costs will be about $75 plus a couple hours of my labor versus $250-$300 if done by a professional. In today’s economy, that’s meaningful.
Any of the standard Search Engines such as Google, Explorer, or Yahoo will provide a multitude of “Hits” on virtually any DIY project usually for free. More recently, actual videos of repairs are available to view. These are great and will generally take any of the guesswork out of the project.
May 7th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I stumbled on this site from a bookmark at furl. Interesting topic with many great points. I wanted to say thank you for taking time to share this information. Robert from New York