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The Men's Rights organization, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) have claimed (quoting The Observer Watches Blog) that:

Consumption in the modern world today is driven overwhelmingly by women (80-91%, depending on which economist you ask).

The site is obviously biased, and doesn't cite any economist despite making the allusion.

Are women responsible for driving 80% or more of society's consumption?

Oddthinking
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    the idea of who drives consumption is largely subjective, are products targeted at the young adult male population for the purpose of attracting women being driven by the men spending money or the women they are seeking? – Ryathal Apr 08 '13 at 17:35
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    According to Joel Spolsky, [women drive 100% of life](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2010/08/19.html) (Jump to ~29:00) – Flimzy Apr 12 '13 at 02:34
  • MGTOW is in absolutely no way a Men's Rights organization. [It is an **anti-feminist**, **misogynistic**, mostly-online community advocating for men to separate themselves from women and from a society which they believe has been corrupted by feminism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Going_Their_Own_Way). – hlovdal Jun 12 '23 at 13:24

1 Answers1

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The claim that MGTOW makes is a bit different than the more widely made claim that women "control" 80% of spending. Drive means something different than control, but I'll answer this question based on the widely known claim about women controlling 80% of spending.

From Who Makes the Call at the Mall, Men or Women? (Carl Bialik - Wall Street Journal):

Several recent surveys suggest that men have nearly equal say on spending, and that when men and women live together, both participate in spending decisions.

The 80% figure is often repeated and is "ubiquitous", but it lacks a source.

Many marketing gurus who rely on the 80% figure cite the work of Marti Barletta. [...] Ms. Barletta concedes that she has no specific source for the figure.

One survey asked women the percentage of household spending they control or influence. The average answer was 73%. When men were asked what percentage of household spending they (men) control or influence, the average answer was 61%.

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    Marti Barletta has [defended her position](http://www.trendsight.com/content/view/40/204/) against the claims in this article. It would be good to see that considered in this answer. – Oddthinking Apr 08 '13 at 23:51
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    @Oddthinking Thanks for that pointer, but I'm not comfortable using her own website as a primary source in my answer. She is not disinterested. I'd be more comfortable if a reliable, third party source has decided her argument is credible. Maybe your comment here is good enough for now, in case people are curious about what she has to say. –  Apr 09 '13 at 01:23
  • I understand the need to not include false balance, but given she appears to be the source of the claim, it seems reasonable to mention her defence (and perhaps critique it...) – Oddthinking Apr 09 '13 at 02:56
  • e.g. where she claims that, in couples, 'while a man has the power to veto a home purchase, only the woman has the power to say, “Yes.” I’d say “the power of yes” is 90% of the value of the spending decision.' A moment's thought reveals the first sentence to be vacuous. By her own logic both parties have to agree (shock!) on a purchase, and then the 90% figure is plucked from the air. – Oddthinking Apr 09 '13 at 02:59
  • While I like this answer, it significantly differs from MGTOW's claim. If MGTOW's claim has no grounding in research (and thus an answer can't be produced either way, assuming nobody bothered to criticize them), I won't be surprised if no other relevant answers appear, but I won't accept this one. –  Apr 09 '13 at 12:09
  • @Fadeway No problem, that make sense. –  Apr 09 '13 at 16:54