Introduction
In the present-day world, sellers focus on various categories of potential consumers. The principal concept in terms of consumer behaviour is gender differences. Numerous factors have an impact on their demand and methods of purchasing goods, and it is vital to reveal the specificities of choices made by male and female buyers. Consideration of possible differences and similarities in consumer behaviour of these two groups would allow to make decisions on how to attract potential buyers depending on the gender. Therefore, it is important to figure out the differences between male and female consumers and compare their buying habits for a better understanding of their behaviour.
Attitude Towards Shopping of Male and Female Consumers
Any purchase is a challenge for modern customers due to the availability of various brands, characteristics, and consumer reviews. One can never be sure if a purchased item would satisfy his or her needs, especially in the case of online shopping. Hence, the choice of the best suitable product contains certain risks for a buyer. To reveal the trends of product choices of men and women, one needs to consider the way these consumer groups perceive risk.
Various psychological studies confirm the difference in reaction to risk of men and women (Eckel & Grossman, 2008). According to Bae and Lee, female buyers are more influenced by the possible risk and negativity of consumer reviews than men (2011). This fact leads to the conclusion that women would spend more time on shopping while trying to evaluate the risks and make the right decision.
Another factor influencing the attitude towards shopping of men and women is their awareness of the product’s specificities. Chiu et al. claim that there are four basic components of the knowledge about the purchased item: personal awareness of security, personal innovativeness, perceived ease of purchasing, and perceived usefulness (2005). The combination of them has an impact on a consumer’s intention to buy a product. The principal difference between male and female buyers in terms of the mentioned components is in the perception of ease of purchasing, which is lower by women. It contributes to the idea that the shopping process seems to be more complicated for them. In this case, the feedback of other women on the product matters.
Male buyers, in turn, do not get easily distracted from the shopping process and make decisions faster than women. They better cope with vast amounts of available information on products and spend less time on shopping. It is one of the reasons why they prefer online purchases rather than visiting physical stores and malls (Jackson et al., 2011). However, the amount of time spent on online shopping is still significant, and it results in a lowering of usefulness. The scores for the personal awareness of security are higher for men, and their feedbacks on products therefore prevail. As for personal innovativeness, it also has a bigger impact on male buyers rather than female ones.
Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour
There are several factors that have an impact on male and female consumer behaviour. The most important one is their preferences in making purchases in a company of friends and acquaintances or on their own. Women tend to go shopping in a company, and men prefer to go on their own or just buy all the necessary goods online, and there is a simple explanation for it.
The preferences of a company or shopping in private are influenced by the psychological characteristics of these groups of buyers. As Meyers-Levy and Loken state in their research, it is conditioned by the orientation of women on other people, whereas most men are self-oriented (2015). However, male consumers sometimes make purchases in a company, and then their buying patterns change. In this case, they tend to spend much more money as a way to demonstrate their social status. Women, in turn, revealed the consistency in the amount of money spent on different goods both in a company of friends and on their own.
Another essential factor is the response of men and women to the advertisement. It is also influenced by the people in a company of which the person is buying goods. The research of Fischer and Dubé demonstrates the difference in the reaction of male consumers on emotional advertisements, depending on who is around them (2005). While making decisions on whether to buy a particular item or not, they tend to react to this type of advertisement more than when they are in a company of other men. Their emotional experience is similar to one of the women with the only difference that the reaction of female buyers does not change depending on their environment. Thus, it can be concluded that the intentions of female and male consumers while shopping online is similar due to the lack of company.
Brand commitment and consumer loyalty are the factors that make a difference in the long run. According to Tifferet and Herstein, women demonstrate a higher level of brand commitment than men (2012). They also tend to be more impulsive when buying goods than male consumers. Although women prefer to purchase items of the same brand more often than men, it is impossible to make a judgment on their popularity (Seock and Bailey, 2008). From the research conducted among the students, one can see that the differences in shopping orientation and methods of information search do not allow to conclude their brand preferences.
One more difference in buying patterns of male and female consumers is their loyalty. According to Melnyk et al., women tend to be more loyal than men in terms of shopping (2009). However, this loyalty is focused mostly on individual sellers and service providers, whereas for men, it is quite the opposite. They are oriented mainly on groups of people or companies and organizations, which makes them more familiar with famous brands than women. In general, despite the difference in orientation, the effect of gender on loyalty is not essential.
Online Shopping
Another difference in the buying patterns of male and female consumers lies in their attitude towards online shopping. Hasan defines three essential components of attitude: cognition, affect, and behaviour (2010). According to his research, the indicators of men considering these components are significantly higher than the ones of women. This fact allows to conclude that the percentage of male consumers on the Internet prevails, as this option seems to be more attractive to them.
Together with the general preference of online shopping, buying patterns should be considered. In the vast research of consumer online behaviour, Richard et al. concluded that the primary difference between men’s and women’s experience lies in the web navigation, amounts of exploration and website involvement (2010). In general, women tend to spend more time on the search for necessary information (Richard et al., 2007).
The essential findings of the two articles refer to the longer time women spend on product exploration and evaluation. It relates to the stronger effect of inconsistent reviews on female buyers rather than on the male ones (Zhang et al., 2014). Therefore, it is much easier and faster for women to go shopping to a physical store where they would spend less time making decisions.
However, the situation changes when researchers consider various age groups of men and women. The research of Lian and Yen demonstrates the trends of using the Internet for shopping among older adults after retirement (2014). The results show the lack of correlation between the genders of consumers in terms of e-commerce activities. It means that it is vital to consider a specific age group of consumers for more accurate results of a particular study.
Physical Store Shopping
As it has been proved before, female consumers have more difficulties searching for the items to buy online and evaluating them than men. They have a stronger reaction to the number of reviews and the possible negativity they contain. This fact explains why they prefer physical store shopping to websites. However, the principal reason is not in the preferences, but in the attitude towards stores and malls of male and female buyers.
Women tend to have a more positive attitude towards hygiene in such public places than men. They also find the trip to the malls more entertaining than spending time on the computer (Jackson et al., 2011). As women are more sensitive to the environment, physical shopping is a better option for them. In this case, the location of a store or a mall does not matter as the emotions they receive from the process are more essential than any possible inconveniences.
Green Product Shopping
Despite the existence of numerous studies on the impact of gender on consumer behaviour, it seems to be possible only to determine the general tendency. The indicators would differ depending on the country of research, cultural peculiarities, and the current economic policy of the government. One example of such variations is the so-called green product shopping. The consciousness of people towards environmental issues has a significant impact on the preferences of the population as a whole. Still, the indicators by gender differ from country to country.
According to the study conducted in Hong Kong, female buyers tend to be more concerned about the environment and perceive more responsibility than the male ones. This fact also contributes to the orientation of women on other people and, therefore, the environment. The focus of men on themselves results in fewer concerns about environmental protection, and they feel less responsibility for it (Lee, 2009). Therefore, female consumers buy more eco-friendly items and know more about the brands. In general, they are characterized by strong green purchase behaviour.
In contrast to the first study, the attitude of people in Egypt with consideration of gender is quite the opposite. Ecological concerns also influence their consumer behaviour, but there is a difference in the experience of other countries (Mostafa, 2007). Thus, women in Egypt tend to be less aware of the environmental issues in comparison to men. The green purchase is, therefore, more typical for male consumers.
The experience of the two countries demonstrates the impossibility of making judgments based on male or female preferences in the context of one country. Their consumer behaviour would differ depending on many other factors, such as the age of consumers, culture, or orientation of government programs related to various environmental issues. Hence, it is possible only to conclude on some tendencies within one country rather than make generalizations on the consumer behaviour of all men and women.
Conclusion
Gender differences have a significant impact on the consumer behaviour of people. The most important ones relate to their attitude towards purchases. It includes the perception of risks and the reaction of inconsistent consumer feedbacks. Women are more vulnerable to them and, therefore, less eager to make purchases online than men. The awareness of the products also contributes to the emergence of variations in buying patterns.
The essential factors that influence the way male and female consumers buy goods relate to their emotional reaction to the associated attributes such as advertisement and the environment. The preferences in physical or online shopping are also conditioned by the attitude of buyers of different gender and their psychological characteristics. The consideration of the factors and specificities mentioned above allows the researchers to conclude on general principles and differences in the consumer behaviour of men and women.
However, the research has demonstrated the insufficiency of generalization while taking into account all the factors and attitudes. The general tendency reveals only some characteristics and preferences of male and female consumers, whereas the situation is different for every country. Cultural peculiarities, the policy of the government that forms the awareness of people towards specific categories of products, and various personal factors have a more significant impact on consumer behaviour.
Thus, despite the existence of the common tendency in the purchases of male and female buyers, it does not seem possible to make judgments on their overall behaviour. For this purpose, it is necessary to consider the specific areas of purchases by their interests for a more thorough analysis that would allow researchers to reveal the behavioural patterns for practical use.
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