Gender differences in brand commitment, impulse buying, and hedonic consumption

Gender is one of the most common forms of segmentation used by marketers. However, not enough data on gender differences has been collected in the field of consumer behavior. Based on tenets from evolutionary psychology, the purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that in comparison to men, women will report higher levels of brand commitment, hedonic consumption, and impulse buying.

In total, 257 students (153 males and 104 females; M age=29.9, SD=6.7) completed questionnaires.

As hypothesized, women had higher levels of brand commitment (t(254)=2.32, p < 0.05, Cohen's d=0.31), hedonic consumption (t(254)=4.19, p < 0.01, Cohen's d=0.53), and impulse buying in comparison to men.

The study was conducted on shopping in general, while gender differences may be product‐dependent.

Since women have higher levels of brand commitment than men, retailers should promote high quality brands for their female customers. Since women have higher levels of impulse buying in comparison to men, and since impulse buying is triggered by sensual cues, retailers can accentuate sensory cues in stores whose products tend to appeal to women. For example, sale assistants might encourage women to touch products, so they can experience the product tactilely as well as visually. On‐site ads and pop displays should have a stronger impact in women's departments, due to increased impulse buying.

Gender differences in consumer behavior, though recognized as an important topic, have attracted only limited research attention. This paper helps fill that gap while incorporating an evolutionary viewpoint, which is emerging as a valuable theoretical perspective in the field of marketing.