America’s Alpha Females To Obama Administration: ‘It’s the Economy’

Branding Firm Releases National Ginger’s Alpha Panel Survey™ Results

Nation’s Most Influential Consumer Group is Optimistic, Has Clear Priorities for New Administration

Alpha Females Set Personal Priorities for 2009: Health Ranks First, Success Dead Last

Jessica Zittlow
651-789-2241 | jzittlow@beehivepr.biz 

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

• Consumer branding firm Ginger today released the results of its January 2009 Ginger’s Alpha Panel Survey™. The survey provides a snapshot of the priorities alpha women have for themselves and the new administration moving into 2009. 

• Eighty-one percent of respondents believe that stabilizing the economy must be priority number one for the new administration. High-quality, affordable health care is number two (46%).

• According to Ginger’s Import-O-Meter™, alpha women ranked health as most important for 2009. Surprisingly, success ranked dead last, farther down than achievement, signaling that wallet size may now be less of a priority.

• When asked what best represents their attitudes on the economy, 66 percent felt that “This is a good experience for the country and it will be character-building for all of us.”

• What’s the mood of alpha females going into 2009? Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents were “optimistic but realistic” and 26 percent are “hopeful things will turn around.”

• Alpha females’ personal priorities are changing for 2009. For 62 percent, “making do with less across the board” is now a key priority.

• Ginger’s Alpha Panel™ consists of 400 “alpha women” – consumer influencers and thought-leaders – across 10 metro markets. Alpha females are ahead-of-the-curve and leaders in their packs. These are the gals that other women seek for advice and ideas. The macro niche of “women” is widely attributed as influencing more than 80 percent of all products and services sold in the U.S.

SURVEY VERBATIM RESPONSE HIGHLIGHTS

• “I think our economic crisis hinders our ability to do anything else in our own country or around the world.” 

• “So many things to improve, but the US economy is top priority and will trickle down into other things. If you would have asked me last year, getting us out of Iraq would have been first on my list.”

MINNEAPOLIS (JAN. 15, 2009) – It’s not living green, education, health care or Iraq. The economy is front and center for America’s “Alpha Females,” according to a survey released today by Minneapolis-based branding firm Ginger Consulting. The semi-annual, online Ginger’s Alpha Panel Survey™ was conducted in 10 metro markets, including New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Results reflect the 2009 priorities of more than 150 alpha women and were collected during the first two weeks of 2009.

The survey found an overwhelming 81 percent of respondents said the economy is the Obama administration’s number-one priority. Despite the dire economy, 57 percent of respondents are “optimistic but realistic” about the year ahead and 26 percent are “hopeful that things will turn around.” 

Ginger’s Alpha Panel™ is a proprietary panel of 400 alpha females – consumer influencers and opinion leaders who provide a preview into what mainstream women will be thinking and doing six months to two years from now. Alpha females are ahead-of-the-curve and leaders in their packs. These are the gals that other women seek for advice and ideas. The macro niche of “women” is widely attributed as influencing more than 80 percent of all products and services sold in the U.S.

Alpha women think that high-quality, affordable health care should be priority number two for the administration at 46 percent. “Across the board, survey respondents indicated they are ready for the government to work on complicated infrastructure issues,” said Ginger partner Mary Van Note. “Along with the economy and health care, jobs and education were ranked as high priorities.”

Health ranked as the most important personal priority for alpha women this year, according to Ginger’s Import-O-Meter™. Surprisingly, success ranked dead last – farther down than achievement – signaling that wallet size may be less of a priority in 2009. 

Think CHANGE is so 2008? According to the survey, alpha females are still all about it. For 62 percent, “making do with less across the board” is now a greater priority. The bad news for upscale restaurants – 65 percent of alpha females plan to have fewer nice dinners out. Some good news for retailers — alphas still plan to shop, though 60 percent are now “buying on sale.” 

Ginger partner Beth Perro-Jarvis points out that this trend is in line with the overall mood of respondents. “Alpha women think that the country’s situation is a character-building opportunity for all of us,” said Perro-Jarvis. “Ahead-of-the-curve women are taking personal responsibility and realize that we all have to experience some ‘good’ pain to get out of the economic mess.”

Ginger's Alpha Panel covers 10 metro markets in the U.S., including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Seattle. Alpha female panelists are consumer influencers and ahead-of-the-curve opinion leaders in their particular circles, representing futurist points of view from academia and politics to fashion and child rearing. The women are early adopters and preview what mainstream women will be thinking about and doing in the near future. Their insights are coveted by marketers but hard to get, because they do not sit still for old-school consumer research methods.  Each woman is professionally hand-recruited and interviewed, and must fit alpha criteria.

Ginger's Alpha Panel Survey is a semiannual online survey. Survey topics focus on work, family life, self-improvement, shopping habits and the state of the nation. Response rates typically vary from 35 to 50 percent.