Gender Identity in Consumer Behaviour
Palan / Gender Identity in Consumer Behavior Research
Gender Identity in Consumer Behavior Research: A Literature Review and Research Agenda
Kay M. Palan Iowa State University
Kay M. Palan is associate professor of Marketing, Iowa State University, 300 Carver, Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-9526, e-mail: kpalan@iastate.edu This article is part of a special issue on "Gender Issues in Consumer Research" edited by James Gentry, Seungwoo Chun, Suraj Commuri, Eileen Fischer, Sunkyu Jun, Lee McGinnis, and Michal Strahilevitz.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consumer researchers have been examining the impact of gender identity—the degree to which an individual identifies with masculine and feminine personality traits—on various consumer variables for nearly four decades. However, significant gender identity findings in consumer research have been rare, perhaps because of (1) operationalization problems (Palan, Kiecker, and Areni 1999), (2) inappropriate interpretation and application of gender identity to consumer variables (Gould 1996), or (3) blurring gender categories (Firat 1993). This paper presents a thorough review, grounded in theoretical models of gender identity, of consumer behavior studies in the marketing literature that have examined gender identity. Based on the literature review, the paper evaluates whether gender identity research is still warranted, and proposes specific research questions to guide future research.
Terminology in Gender Identity Research
Several different terms have been used over the course of gender identity research to signify gender identity. This creates confusion about what is being studied. This review only includes studies that have specifically examined the degree to which an individual identifies him- or herself with masculine and feminine personality traits. The term "gender identity" is used throughout the paper to refer to this definition, regardless of what it might have been called in previous studies.
Theoretical Background of
Gender Identity in Consumer Behavior Research: A Literature Review and Research Agenda
Kay M. Palan Iowa State University
Kay M. Palan is associate professor of Marketing, Iowa State University, 300 Carver, Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-9526, e-mail: kpalan@iastate.edu This article is part of a special issue on "Gender Issues in Consumer Research" edited by James Gentry, Seungwoo Chun, Suraj Commuri, Eileen Fischer, Sunkyu Jun, Lee McGinnis, and Michal Strahilevitz.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consumer researchers have been examining the impact of gender identity—the degree to which an individual identifies with masculine and feminine personality traits—on various consumer variables for nearly four decades. However, significant gender identity findings in consumer research have been rare, perhaps because of (1) operationalization problems (Palan, Kiecker, and Areni 1999), (2) inappropriate interpretation and application of gender identity to consumer variables (Gould 1996), or (3) blurring gender categories (Firat 1993). This paper presents a thorough review, grounded in theoretical models of gender identity, of consumer behavior studies in the marketing literature that have examined gender identity. Based on the literature review, the paper evaluates whether gender identity research is still warranted, and proposes specific research questions to guide future research.
Terminology in Gender Identity Research
Several different terms have been used over the course of gender identity research to signify gender identity. This creates confusion about what is being studied. This review only includes studies that have specifically examined the degree to which an individual identifies him- or herself with masculine and feminine personality traits. The term "gender identity" is used throughout the paper to refer to this definition, regardless of what it might have been called in previous studies.
Theoretical Background of