Abstract:Purpose
Managers prefer semantic imbeds in brand names, but extant literature has primarily studied fictitious names for their sound-symbolic perceptions. This paper aims to explore sound-symbolic perceptions of products with blended brand names (BBNs), formed with at least one semantic and one nonsemantic component. Unlike most extant literature, this study not only estimates the effect of vowels and consonants individually on product perceptions but also of their combinations. The boundary condition for this… Show more
“…Prior research has examined how marketing managers can gender products through various cues (e.g. Arora et al, 2023;Azar, 2015;Lieven et al, 2015;, how consumers who consume gendered products are evaluated by others (Borau and Bonnefon, 2020) and how likely consumers are to choose gendered products (e.g. Kim et al, 2023).…”
Section: Discussion and Theoretical Contributionsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Prior research has examined how marketing managers can gender products through various cues (e.g. Arora et al. , 2023; Azar, 2015; Lieven et al.…”
Section: Discussion and Theoretical Contributionsmentioning
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the consumer response to brands offering gendered product differentiation (i.e. products “for her” or “for him”).
Design/methodology/approach
Across three experiments, the effect of gendered (vs gender-unrelated) product differentiation on perceived brand sexism and word-of-mouth intention was tested. The moderating effects of feminist identity (Studies 1 and 2), endorsement of sexist beliefs (Study 2) and basis (stereotypical vs biological) for product differentiation (Study 3) were also tested.
Findings
Consumers perceive brands that offer gendered product differentiation as sexist, which in turn leads to negative word-of-mouth intention. Moreover, consumers with a strong feminist identity are more likely to perceive brands that offer gendered product differentiation as sexist, whereas consumers who endorse sexist beliefs are less likely to do so. Finally, consumers respond negatively when the gendered product differentiation is based on a gender stereotype, but much less so when it seems based on a biological difference between sexes.
Originality/value
Although multiple brands offering gendered products have been denounced by consumers as sexist, no research has examined this phenomenon. This paper pioneers in examining the consumer response to brands offering gendered product differentiation and in demonstrating that consumers perceive such brands as sexist.
“…Prior research has examined how marketing managers can gender products through various cues (e.g. Arora et al, 2023;Azar, 2015;Lieven et al, 2015;, how consumers who consume gendered products are evaluated by others (Borau and Bonnefon, 2020) and how likely consumers are to choose gendered products (e.g. Kim et al, 2023).…”
Section: Discussion and Theoretical Contributionsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Prior research has examined how marketing managers can gender products through various cues (e.g. Arora et al. , 2023; Azar, 2015; Lieven et al.…”
Section: Discussion and Theoretical Contributionsmentioning
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the consumer response to brands offering gendered product differentiation (i.e. products “for her” or “for him”).
Design/methodology/approach
Across three experiments, the effect of gendered (vs gender-unrelated) product differentiation on perceived brand sexism and word-of-mouth intention was tested. The moderating effects of feminist identity (Studies 1 and 2), endorsement of sexist beliefs (Study 2) and basis (stereotypical vs biological) for product differentiation (Study 3) were also tested.
Findings
Consumers perceive brands that offer gendered product differentiation as sexist, which in turn leads to negative word-of-mouth intention. Moreover, consumers with a strong feminist identity are more likely to perceive brands that offer gendered product differentiation as sexist, whereas consumers who endorse sexist beliefs are less likely to do so. Finally, consumers respond negatively when the gendered product differentiation is based on a gender stereotype, but much less so when it seems based on a biological difference between sexes.
Originality/value
Although multiple brands offering gendered products have been denounced by consumers as sexist, no research has examined this phenomenon. This paper pioneers in examining the consumer response to brands offering gendered product differentiation and in demonstrating that consumers perceive such brands as sexist.
“…Market participants unconsciously process these associative perceptions, which affect their judgment of names without conscious awareness (e.g., Menon, 2004, Pogacar et al, 2018). The association of specific product attributes over phonological properties has been investigated mainly in experimental studies (e.g., Arora et al, 2022). Following Wu et al (2013), phonetic symbolism creates brand personalities in that names with front vowels indicate a more feminine brand personality, while names with back vowels construct a masculine brand personality.…”
Section: Literature and Hypothesesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Market participants unconsciously process these associative perceptions, which affect their judgment of names without conscious awareness (e.g., Yorkston and Menon, 2004, Pogacar et al., 2018). The association of specific product attributes over phonological properties has been investigated mainly in experimental studies (e.g., Arora et al., 2022). Following Wu et al.…”
We shed light on assessing product quality in blind tastings and their potential (gender) biases. We study how phonetic traits of grape varieties suggest product attributes in the context of professional reviews. This study aims to close this research gap and analyze how product variety and phonetic name traits affect expert ratings. We obtained data on 18,609 wines and their ratings from Wine Enthusiast Magazine between 1997 and 2016, yielding a sample of 31,058 observations. We suppose that the gender of the taster needs to be considered to understand what affects tastings and ratings, as women and men might be attracted differently to masculine or feminine names. This study shows that masculine names receive higher evaluations than feminine ones. This phonetic gender gap is driven by lower ratings for white wines by female reviewers and lower ratings for red wines by male reviewers. In addition, white wines are rated lower overall by both men and women.
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