Gender and Self in Product Evaluation

Gender schema plays a critical role in decision making by guiding mental organization frameworks and processing information. Drawing on gender schema theory and the self-congruity framework, this study hypothesized that participants with a mean femininity score above the median would ascribe a feminine-typed shampoo more hedonic attributes than other participants. Similarly, the second hypothesis claimed that participants with a mean masculinity score above the median would ascribe masculine-typed shampoo more utilitarian attributes than all other participants. A third hypothesis predicted that product evaluation would be more favorable when the participants’ gender self-schema aligned with the product gender-type. Participants (N=85), recruited via Sona Systems, viewed either a feminine or masculine typed shampoo bottle in an online survey. They selected relevant product evaluation dimensions, evaluated the product, and completed a modified Bem Sex Role Inventory used to classify participants into gender-schema groups. Independent sample t-tests detected no difference between high and low gender trait groups on attribute selection and a 2 x 4 ANOVA revealed no significant main effect of product gender condition or gender self-schema on product evaluation score. However, the interaction between product gender condition and self-schema on product evaluation approached significance. Supplementary analyses using masculinity and femininity scores as continuous predictors also detected no significant associations with evaluation or attribute selection. While the hypotheses were not supported, these findings offer insight into how gendered design cues may interact with identity based processing. Future research should incorporate more inclusive gender measures and clearer product manipulations.