Affirming the self through products: how gender minority contexts drive appeal for gender-neutral products

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how numerical gender-minority contexts influence consumers’ gender-congruency evaluations of gender-neutral products, and to test the mediating role of self-verification and the moderating role of cultural masculinity on purchase intentions. Extant literature in consumer behaviour suggests consumers prefer products congruent with their gender identity. How then, do gender-neutral products appeal to consumers who self-identify with traditional gender types when such products are designed intentionally not to align with any gender? In this paper, we posit that the gender-congruency evaluations of gender-neutral products may be context dependent rather than only consumer (person) or object (product) dependent, because consumers’ gender identity and product gender perception are conventionally static variables encased within a context. The authors examine how being in a numerical gender minority, influences consumers to view gender-neutral products as aligned with their own gender and influences purchase intentions for gender-neutral products. Furthermore, the authors test the mediating role of self-verification and the moderating role of cultural masculinity on the impact of gender-minority contexts on consumers’ purchase intention towards gender-neutral products. Design/methodology/approach This study is designed as a series of three pre-registered experiments with respondents from USA, India, UAE and Sweden across different studies. Findings The authors find that individuals in a gender-minority context show significantly higher gender alignment and purchase intentions towards gender-neutral products, with self-verification serving as a mediator. Cultural masculinity plays a moderating role in the relationship between minority status and purchase intentions. This research contributes to identity-congruency research by focusing on situational context over fixed self-identity or product identity, while underscoring the cultural influences on the choice of gender-neutral products. The authors provide practical recommendations for marketing gender-neutral products in various situational and cultural contexts. Originality/value This study is among the earliest to identify the role of “situational context” on consumers’ behaviour towards gender-neutral products, which is an emerging social context with potential for becoming mainstream.