Sometimes, a stereotype has some truth in it. In this case, the stereotype that men prefer simple messages over more complicated and detailed ones may have legs.
(Don’t attack us just yet! We’re certainly not saying that men are dumb. The author of this post is a man, and we wouldn’t allow that kind of argument-baiting nonsense on our blog.)
Anyhow, the source, in this case, is a study performed by Northwestern University and the University of Haifa. Researchers leading the study measured the brain activity of boys and girls performing certain spelling and writing tasks. They found that “[G]irls … showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys.” The researchers theorized that boys may have, “[S]ome kind of bottleneck in their sensory processes that can hold up visual or auditory information and keep it from being fed into the language areas of the brain,” but speculated that this situation may clear up as boys reach adulthood.
As a result, it may be beneficial to attempt to simplify your messaging in order to increase the likelihood that your audience will act on it. And in general, this is good advice no matter what type of audience you’re addressing. A simple message, especially with strong visuals, tends to be a more effective one in many cases (more details on this here).
While we often promote the power of storytelling in this blog, there is a time and a place for it. But if you want people (especially men) to take action, it pays to get to the point. What does this mean for your fundraising materials?
- Favor brief emails
- Create ads that aren’t text-heavy
- Employ short videos to get your message across
- And on Twitter … actually, don’t change a thing on Twitter; they have the right idea.
If people are interested in hearing more details, make them available after a click. Tell long-form stories on a separate page, layout complex plans in a standalone presentation, and break down organizational challenges in an easy-to-read format. That way, your audience gets exactly as much information as they want, and only when they want it.
It’s something a person of any gender can appreciate.
