Correspondence: Diana Lawson, G. R. Herberger College of Business, St. Cloud State University, 720 Fourth Avenue South, BB 124, St. Cloud, MN 56301, USA. Tel: +1 320-308-3213; e-mail: drlawson@stcloudstate.edu

¹holds the position of Dean and Professor of marketing at the G. R. Herberbger College of Business at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. She has published in a number of marketing and business journals including Journal of Business Research, International Business Review, Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Marketing Education Review, the Journal of Financial Sendees Marketing, International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, and Journal of Euromarketing. She also holds a visiting position at the University of Angers, France.

²is Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Maine. He received his PhD in Finance from the University of Florida after working for Dominion Bankshares Corporation, a multibank holding company. His research concerns financial institutions and asset management. He has published in the Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives, the American Business Review, The Commercial Lending Review, and The Credit and Financial Management Review, among others.

³received his PhD in Marketing from the University of Alabama. He is assistant professor of Marketing at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan.

Received 5 September 2006; Revised 5 September 2006.

Abstract

The financial services industry has undergone what can only be called a 'transformation' over the last 25 years. Deregulation has increased competition in all sectors. Thus, firms must understand the needs of their customers. The number of women as financial services decision makers has been rapidly growing, and it is estimated that within 15 years women will represent over 65 per cent of top wealth-holders. This study looks at how the financial services industry communicates with potential women customers through print advertising. The most frequently used appeals when advertising in women's magazines are similar to those used in men's magazines, but they differ from those used in general magazines. Surprisingly, advertisers, however, do not seem to tailor their ads differently to women than to men, despite evidence that women respond to different approaches.