To reach women, marketers may not consider choosing between soap operas and the NFL when putting together media allocation plans.

But they might want to reconsider, according to a BIGresearch study, which found women more likely to be regularly or occasionally watching sports than soap operas, writes sister site MarketingCharts.

Whereas 62 percent of women surveyed say they watch sports regularly or occasionally on TV, 42 percent watch soap operas with the same frequency, according to BIGresearch's Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 10, July 07) of 15,439 consumers.

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Shortcuts to charts/tables referenced in this article:

1. TV show types (sports vs. soaps) watched by women, by ethnicity
2. Online sports search conducted by women, by ethnicity
3. Top 5 stores women (by ethnicity) shop most often for women's clothing

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But those proportions vary by ethnicity, with Hispanic women watching more soaps, for example, and white/Caucasian women the least likely to watch soaps, and African-American women the most likely to watch sports:

The percentage of women who search online for sports differs by ethnic groups - 49.3 percent of Hispanic women, 43.5 percent of African American women, 50.3 percent of Asian women and 40 percent of Caucasian women say they search for sports information online:

"Conventional wisdom says soap operas are better for reaching women but in media consumption, as in fashion, there's no such thing as one size fits all for today's women," said Gary Drenik, president and CEO of BIGresearch.

"Their media consumption is as complex as their shopping behaviors, and marketers/advertisers who wish to increase their ROI need to understand these differences."

Such differences are apparent, based on ethnic group, when it comes to stores women shop most often for women's clothing.

See table of top 5 stores women (by ethnicity) shop most often for women's clothing:

Differences are also evident for women who exercise/play sports while using media - something 34.5 percent of Hispanic women, 31.4 percent of African American women, 39.9 percent of Asian women and 27.3 percent of Caucasian women say they do.

About the data: Topline findings are available from BIGresearch (tables of the top three ways women spend their leisure time, women's sports media consumption and shopping information); click on "Complimentary Top Line Findings" (upper right of homepage).