by Paco Underhill. It may still be a world "owned by men, designed by men, and managed by men," but sales guru Underhill (Why We Buy) argues that companies which fail to recognize women's purchasing power will miss out on the consumer bonanza of the future. In this lively study, the author traces how middle-class women's entrance into the workplace has reshaped everything from demand to design and reveals the future implications for consumer behavior as women of all classes outpace their male counterparts in college attendance. In a friendly, conversational style, Underhill discloses how the business landscape is being transformed to be safer, more accessible, and attuned to women's wants such as houses that are designed with bigger, more open kitchens that can serve as "the unofficial domestic control center of a contemporary home." Underhill's conception of the female consumer is outmoded at times (larger bathrooms in houses are supposed to serve as the "penultimate inner sanctum [for] today's frazzled female"), but he makes a compelling argument that a failure to cater to women consumers with products, services, environments, and customer experiences that meet their expectations is just "bad business." --Publisher's Weekly
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