Green Gender: The Impact of Brand Gender Attributes on Pro‐Environmental Consumer Evaluations

ABSTRACT This research investigates whether feminine gender attributes systematically enhance the pro‐environmental perception of various entities (e.g., brands, political parties, and countries). Across eight studies, using both experimental and correlational methods, entities with feminine (vs. masculine) gender attributes are perceived as more pro‐environmental. An internal meta‐analysis across all studies ( N = 3122) confirms a moderate positive correlation between femininity and pro‐environmental evaluation ( r = 0.31, SE = 0.07, BCa 95% CI: [0.12, 0.48], p < 0.001), whereas masculinity shows no significant correlation with pro‐environmental perception ( r = −0.17, SE = 0.13, 95% CI: [− 0.40, 0.08], p = 0.189). The feminine‐green effect holds across different entities and is mediated by perceptions of warmth. The effect of human gender attributes exceeds that of biological sex and extends even to self‐perceptions. Our findings contribute to diverse research streams focused on heuristics, green marketing, and gender stereotypes by demonstrating that warmth‐related traits underlie the “feminine‐green stereotype.”

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Publication Details

Journal
Psychology and Marketing
Published
2026-07-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70229
Primary Topic
Environmental Sustainability in Business
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Green Gender: The Impact of Brand Gender Attributes on Pro‐Environmental Consumer Evaluations

Matthias Spörrle, Magdalena Bekk, Bianca Weber
Psychology and Marketing
Environmental Sustainability in Business
article

Green Gender: The Impact of Brand Gender Attributes on Pro‐Environmental Consumer Evaluations

Matthias Spörrle, Magdalena Bekk, Bianca Weber
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research investigates whether feminine gender attributes systematically enhance the pro‐environmental perception of various entities (e.g., brands, political parties, and countries). Across eight studies, using both experimental and correlational methods, entities with feminine (vs. masculine) gender attributes are perceived as more pro‐environmental. An internal meta‐analysis across all studies ( N = 3122) confirms a moderate positive correlation between femininity and pro‐environmental evaluation ( r = 0.31, SE = 0.07, BCa 95% CI: [0.12, 0.48], p < 0.001), whereas masculinity shows no significant correlation with pro‐environmental perception ( r = −0.17, SE = 0.13, 95% CI: [− 0.40, 0.08], p = 0.189). The feminine‐green effect holds across different entities and is mediated by perceptions of warmth. The effect of human gender attributes exceeds that of biological sex and extends even to self‐perceptions. Our findings contribute to diverse research streams focused on heuristics, green marketing, and gender stereotypes by demonstrating that warmth‐related traits underlie the “feminine‐green stereotype.”

Psychology and Marketing
Seeburg Castle University (AT), The World Academy of Sciences (IT)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Environmental Sustainability in Business
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