Gender identity in consumer behaivor

Gender Identity in Consumer Behavior Research: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Executive summary

Terminology in gender identity research.
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

Theoretical Background of Gender Identity
Gender identity isconsidered to be a two-dimensional model, with masculine traits comprising one dimension, and feminine traits the other. Psychologists believe that varying degrees of these traits coexist within an individual (Gill et al. 1987). Two instruments, created in the mid-1970s, have dominated gender identity research, the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). With eitherinstrument, individuals can be categorized according to which set of gendered traits they primarily identify with.

Gender Identity Studies in Consumer Behavior
Thirty-one studies, dating from 1963-2001 are included in the literature review. Gender identity has been significantly linked to several different consumer variables (e.g., leisure activities, sex-role portrayals, shopping behavior),but biological sex was often significant when gender identity was not.

Theoretical Foundations of Gender Identity Studies in Consumer Behavior

Studies were categorized with respect to three theoretical issues: (1) the consistency of gender identity conceptualization/operationalization with either gender schema theory (GST) or multifactorial gender identity theory (MGIT); (2) the relevance ofgendered traits to study; and (3) the recognition that gender identity is variable, dependent on saliente
Only three studies recognized that identification of gendered traits could vary in different situations.

Enthusiasm or Skepticism for Gender Identity?
the construct does provide meaningful insights into consumer behavior. Consequently, the paper concludes that enthusiasm for genderidentity research is warranted.

FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUSION
This paper takes the position that future research should recognize gender identity as a multifactorial construct
Finally, researchers need to better understand how gender is activated and made salient in different contexts. Understanding this question will enable researchers to understand in what situations gendered traitsare likely to be influential, and to understand the interplay between gendered traits and gender salience.

the purpose of this paper is to present a thorough review of consumer behavior studies in the marketing literature that have examined gender identity2

TERMINOLOGY IN GENDER IDENTITY RESEARCH
though it was becoming more standard to use "sex" to refer to an individual’s biological sexand "gender" to refer to psychological features associated with biological sex that are socially constructed. That is the convention adopted in this literature review. In contrast, "gender is the cultural definition of behavior defined as appropriate to the sexes in a given society at a given time. Gender is a set of cultural roles"

This literature review only includes studies that havespecifically examined the degree to which an individual identifies him- or herself with masculine and feminine personality traits

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF GENDER IDENTITY
masculinity and femininity were conceptualized as two separate, orthogonal dimensions, coexisting in varying degrees within an individual (Gill et al. 1987); this conceptualization of masculinity and femininity remains the acceptedstandard today.

MEASUREMENT OF MASCULINE AND FEMININE PERSONALITY TRAITS

Two instruments incorporating the multidimensional conceptualization of masculinity and femininity have dominated gender identity research (Deaux 1985)—the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ).
The BSRI and the PAQ were developed in the mid-1970s as indexes of self-reported...