A recent Mashable article highlights how women are shopping when it comes to the area of technology and the findings may surprise you. Did you know women are more likely than men to purchase tablets, laptopsand smartphones (the article states "three out of the four top consumer electronics categories").

Other findings from a Parks Associates study of 2,000 male and female consumers, as cited in the article were as follows:

- Women expressed more interest in tablets (18%), laptops (20%) and smartphones (20%).

- Only 15% of men planned to buy a tablet, while 14% sought a laptop and 17% intended to buy a smartphone.

- The only category in which men surpassed female interest was flat screen LCD TVs, with men (19%) favoring the sets over women (17%).

- When it comes to deciding which electronic devices to buy, about 32% of women — compared to 26% of men — said ease of use was most important.

- Women bought an average of 4.7 consumer electronics products in 2010, according to the study. Men purchased an average of 4.2 products. Meanwhile, 88% of women purchased any tech-related item in 2010, compared to 83% of men.

- Women are also playing gaming consoles more than they were in previous years, especially on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the study found. Women (54%) are most interested in social gaming with multi-players, compared to 45% of men. In addition, females are 40% more likely play games on Facebook.

As a PR agency that specializes in marketing to women, these stats don't surprise us. And while some aspects of the tech industry are catching on, there is still quite a bit of improvement that needs to take place in how these companies are reaching women consumers.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.