Masculine or Feminine? The Role of Type Fonts After Brand Gender-Bending From the Perspective of Gender Consistency

Marketing and design literature suggests that positioning a brand through the gender dimension of brand personality can influence consumers' perceptions of the brand.However, few studies have explored the role of fonts and brand gender consistency after brand gender-bending.Therefore, this study aims to explore whether the original font can continue to play a role in consumers' gender perceptions of the brand after brand gender-bending, and whether there are differences in perception between consumers of different genders.Based on the gender dimension in brand personality, this study uses logos composed of fonts with different gender traits to conduct a survey among two groups of participants for effective comparison.Six studies were conducted to examine the influence of fonts on brand gender perception during the process of brand gender-bending.The findings first demonstrate that the perception of font traits affects consumers' perception of brand gender traits.After brand gender-bending, the original font is perceived to exhibit opposite-gender or neutral traits, resulting in a decrease in the perception of the original brand's gender traits.Additionally, there are differences in how consumers of different genders perceive the font and brand traits after gender-bending.