Does “male beauty” really work: The impact of male endorsements on female consumers’ evaluation of female-gender-imaged product

Abstract

<p id="p00005">Nowadays, using male spokesperson to endorse female-gender-imaged product has become an important advertising strategy and has penetrated into many female-gender-imaged products, especially thanks to celebrity influence. Does it really work? While previous research only combined with a certain degree of theory to explain the cross-gender endorsement phenomenon, this paper aims to explore the relationship between the gender of female-gender-imaged product spokesperson and female consumer's product evaluation through a quantitative approach. Specifically, we proposed that when male spokesperson endorses female-gender-imaged product, female consumers would significantly downgrade their evaluation of the products compared to female spokesperson, which is mediated by a sense of gender-identity threat. In addition, when the participants are manipulated to increase gender affirmation, the main effect would be strengthened. <break/>Study 1 used a single factor (gender of female-gender-imaged product spokesperson: male vs. female) between-subjects design. 145 female college students were invited to participate in this study. Participants were asked to imagine a billboard advertising a lipstick endorsed by male star or female star, and then evaluated this lipstick by a scale. We examined the main effect through this scenario that using male spokesperson to endorse female-gender-imaged product would decrease female consumers’ product evaluation. <break/>Study 2A used a similar between-subjects design. 119 female participants were recruited to imagine a billboard of obstetrics and gynecology hospital endorsed by male star or female star, and then evaluated this obstetrics and gynecology hospital as well as sense of gender-identity threat by scales. Study 2B invited 136 female college students to replicate the results of Study 2A, ruling out the alternative explanations of shyness and shame. Participants were asked to look at an underwear advertisement poster that used endorsement by a real celebrity. We repeated the results of Study 1 and confirmed the mediating effect of a sense of gender-identity threat with bootstrap test to clarify the underlying mechanism. <break/>Study 3 used a 2 (gender of female-gender-imaged product spokesperson: male vs. female) × 2 (gender affirmation: with vs. without) between-subjects design. 250 female Mturk workers participated in this study. In the gender affirmation condition, participants were asked to write about important qualities and values of women. In the control condition, participants were asked to list 20 everyday items that came to mind. Next, participants were told that they were browsing an online shopping platform and intended to buy underwear. They would see the underwear picture of a famous brand endorsed by a popular female star (vs. a popular male star) and then fill out the same product evaluation scale as above. We examined the interaction between gender of female-gender-imaged product spokesperson and gender affirmation. Specifically, when the female-gender-imaged product uses male endorsement, the product evaluation of the gender affirmation condition is lower than that of the control condition. <break/>Apart from the above, results from these studies were summarized and showed that both exclusivity and privacy of female-gender-imaged product have significant interaction effects on the relationship between spokesperson gender and product evaluation. <break/>In summary, this paper combines the theory of self-concept and identity consciousness to provide evidences for a mechanism between cross-gender endorsement and female consumer's product evaluation mediated by a sense of gender-identity threat, and the moderating effect of gender affirmation, expanding the downstream results of product gender attribute research and contributing to the practice of advertising field.