Pink or blue? The impact of gender cues on brand perceptions

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether, how and why gender cues influence brand perception and subsequent purchasing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachAcross four experimental studies conducted online with either a convenience sample (Studies 1a and 1b) or a representative sample of consumers (Studies 2 and 3), the authors empirically investigate whether gender cues impact brand perception along dimensions of warmth and competence and how other warmth and competence cues in a consumer environment moderate the effect of gender cues on consumer brand perceptions.FindingsGender cues (e.g. gender-typed colours and shapes) activate gender-stereotypical knowledge of warmth and competence, which spills over to the brand. This effect depends on the presence of other competence cues in a consumer’s environment. In contrast to conventional practice, in the presence of a high competence cue (e.g. reputable brands), feminine gender cues enhance purchase likelihood (via activation of warmth perceptions), whereas masculine cues actually decrease purchase likelihood. In contrast, in the presence of a low competence cue (e.g. new companies), masculine gender cues enhance purchase likelihood (via activation of competence perceptions), whereas feminine cues lower purchase likelihood.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors used an experimental approach to explicitly test for causality and isolate the effect of gender cues in a controlled setting. Future research should further address the implication of gender cues using actual sales data.Practical implicationsReputable companies often explicitly use cues to highlight their competence. The results of this research suggest that managers may want to reconsider this approach. That is, marketers of brands with established high competence should consider integrating more feminine cues to highlight their warmth, such as feminine shapes (e.g. circles and ovals) or feminine colours (e.g. a shade of pink) in their packaging and marketing communication. In contrast, companies that have not established their competence or not-for-profit organisations would be better off integrating masculine cues.Originality/valueThis is the first research to empirically investigate the effect of gender cues on brand perception and subsequent purchase behaviour. Not only does this research show that gender cues can alter brand perception along the warmth and competence perception but also the authors address the call to identify conditions under which warmth versus competence cues enhance brand perception and purchase likelihood (Aaker et al., 2010). In particular, this research demonstrates how multiple warmth and competence cues interact with each other.