Gender Identity and Consumer Preference for Gender Labeled Products

摘要

Every day, consumers have the choice between buying products targeted to one specific sex (sex-typed labeling) and those addressing both sexes in one label (unisex labeling). Conventional wisdom suggests that consumers should prefer the former alternative. We challenge this assumption by introducing consumers' gender identity as an important moderator of the gender labeling-purchase intention link. Researchers have called for a rethinking of the simplification that consumers' behavior just differs because of their biological sex. Instead, they introduced gender as a more complex construct which consists of psychological traits including masculinity and femininity as distinct dimensions. Regarding behavioral consequences, only consumers with high levels of either masculine or feminine gender traits fit the traditional gender schema. However, in times of David Beckham and metrosexuality, a large consumer segment possessing both high levels of masculine and feminine gender traits emerged (androgynous consumers). Building on self-congruity theory, we argue that for gender schematic consumers, sex-typed labeled products fit their gender self-concept, fostering their gender congruity. In contrast, aschematic consumers should prefer products with symbolic meanings consistent with a hybrid gender self-concept. Unisex labeled products can fulfill these requirements, as they are not limited to masculine or feminine traits, but can reflect both simultaneously.