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This study examines the selection criteria, country preference and people which influence Taiwanese male office workers' business apparel purchases in Taiwan. A partial model by Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (EBM) was used as the framework to indicate that the culture factor directly affects consumers' decision‐making process of purchase behaviour. A total of 232 questionnaires from male consumers in Taipei, Taiwan, were used for data analyses. Selection criteria, country preference and influential people were analysed by demographic variables including age, marital status, education, occupation, and yearly expenditure for business apparel purchase. Overall, the respondents ranked the selection criteria in order of descending importance as: fit, colour, price, style, quality, brand name, ease of care, fibre content and country. The order of country preference was rated first to last as: Taiwanese, Italian, US, French, British, Japanese, Hong Kong, German and Canadian. Individuals who influenced purchases were ranked as: my own opinion, wife or girlfriend, female friend, family member or other relative, male friend and salesperson. This research suggests that if foreign companies want to market to Taiwanese male consumers, they must develop appropriate strategies that help to change the domestic bias of the older males, or choose to appeal to younger males in hopes of developing long‐term brand loyalty. Additionally, the price strategies should be adjusted to be more competitive in Taiwan's marketplace. Meanwhile, fit and colour of apparel products may also need to be altered or modified in order to reach Taiwanese male consumers' demands.

The purpose of this study was to understand how male and female consumers differently evaluate sustainability claims from brands and how brands’ sustainability efforts and the presence/absence of information transparency in the claims affect their brand schemas differently.

Five hundred participants were recruited for an online experiment implementing both treatment and message variance. PROCESS, a recently developed regression-based bootstrapping technique was used to test the hypotheses.

Males were more likely than females to rely on their existing schemas for judgment in case of Made in USA but not Fair Labor claims. The presence of information transparency in claims reduced participants’ reliance on their schemas.

The findings might be helpful for brands to design marketing claims with specific customer segments to stand out amidst advertisement clutter. Especially, brands targeting male consumers might try to build strong brand schemas starting the early stages of brand image building as males tend to consistently rely on their schemas for judgment. On the other hand, brands might benefit from providing transparent information about their sustainability efforts in their claims (especially those related to Made in USA) while targeting female consumers. However, irrespective of gender, brands might benefit from making claims with information transparency.

This study investigated the influence of gender in evaluation of brands’ sustainability claims and the role of information transparency in the process, thereby filling a gap in literature. It is one of the very few studies to empirically investigate not only whether males and females are different in their information processing styles but also how such differences arise.

This study aims to examine gender differences in the impact of imagining product use on purchase decisions. The authors argue that while imagination can enhance purchase intention for female consumers, it can be detrimental to male consumers. This study explores the conditions under which imagination can be turned into a positive device for male consumers.

Three experimental studies were conducted. The first two studies illustrate the differential effects of imagination on males vs females. Given the negative effect found among males, the third study focused exclusively on male consumers to identify conditions under which the negative impact of imagination on these consumers can be alleviated.

Studies 1 and 2 show that while an imagination tactic has positive or no effect on female consumers, a generic imagination request lowers male consumers’ purchase intention. Focusing on potential ways of alleviating this negative effect, Study 3 shows that for males without prior brand ownership experience, imagining product use in a less-typical context can increase purchase intention.

The results provide evidence that gender impacts the effectiveness of imagination in improving product evaluation. Furthermore, the context of imagination and previous brand experience can be used together to determine how male consumers respond to imagination.

The study’s findings warn against the blind use of imagination tactics. Instead, retailers need to customize imagination tactics based on gender, previous brand experience and product usage context.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers to examine the impact of gender on the influence of imagination on product evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting male fashion leadership behaviour. The study examined the effect of fashion consciousness, fashion knowledge, mood enhancement, decision-making confidence and brand switching as the psychological factors. It also included the influence of behavioural factors such as the information sources, attributes of purchasing fashion clothing and type of retailers on male fashion leadership.

The data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed in the main shopping districts of Beirut, Lebanon, during March 2012.

The study uncovered that fashion consciousness, fashion knowledge, confidence in decision making and mood enhancement are to be the most important psychological factors influencing male fashion leadership behaviour. The study also found that frequency of reading fashion magazines is negatively and significantly affecting fashion leadership. Male fashion leaders use colleagues and friends as the main information sources for fashion. The effect of attractiveness, brand name, store image and quality of clothing is positive and significant whilst value for money negatively and significantly influences male fashion leadership. Male fashion leaders mainly shop from specialty shops, chain stores, department stores and the internet.

Although there are a handful of studies which examined female fashion leadership, the male fashion leadership concept has not been extensively addressed in the literature. In an attempt to at least partially address this, the study attempts to identify the factors affecting male fashion leadership behaviour in Lebanon.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate masculinity in Chinese social media marketing for global luxury fashion brands through two studies.

Study 1 compares physical characteristics of males in visually oriented US (Instagram) and Chinese (Weibo) social media posts promoting global luxury fashion magazine brands (e.g. Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ and Esquire). Study 2 examines the prevalence of and Chinese consumers’ responses (reposts, comments and likes) to different masculinities depicted in luxury fashion brand-sponsored Weibo posts.

Male portrayals for Chinese audiences feature more characteristics associated with emerging East Asian hybrid masculinities – “Little Fresh Meat” (LFM) and “Old Grilled Meat” (OGM) – than associated with global or regional hegemonic masculinity (i.e. the scholarly Wén and action-oriented Wu). Wén remains common in social media posts for luxury fashion goods, but LFM and OGM engender more consumer responses.

Chinese luxury fashion marketing depicts masculinity more similarly to other East Asian marketing than to Western marketing. Some luxury fashion brands are struggling for acceptance among Chinese youth. Luxury fashion marketers should incorporate hybrid rather than hegemonic masculinities to prompt more favorable responses among Chinese consumers, especially younger female target markets.

Growing female occupational and consumer power and shifting male employment from blue-collar to white-collar jobs have influenced media portrayals of masculinity. Social media marketing for luxury fashion brands demonstrates the prevalence and appeal of hybrid masculinities in China.

This study proposes a model of online purchase intentions. Four exogenous constructs – namely, personal awareness of security, personal innovativeness, perceived ease of purchasing, and perceived usefulness – have not only direct influences on attitudes and online purchase intentions, but also have indirect influences on online purchase intentions through the mediation of attitudes.

Data were collected via questionnaires from customers of the leading internet service provider (ISP) in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the model.

The influences of personal innovativeness and perceived usefulness on attitudes and online purchase intentions are similar for males and females. The influences of personal awareness of security on both attitudes and online purchase intentions are strong for males, while no such effects exist for females. The influences of perceived ease of purchasing on both attitudes and online purchase intentions are stronger for females than for males.

There are several limitations. For example, there may exist common method variance, and the generalisability of the findings might be limited. Besides, this study is using only one product category, and customers' online purchase intentions may be only partially reflected due to the investigation of self‐reports.

By learning gender differences, e‐tailers and advertisers can better target right consumers and consequently foster more positive attitudes and online purchase intentions.

This study presents a thorough understanding on a model of online purchase intentions, and how gender moderates several paths of the model.

This study aims to examine the effect of opinion leadership on individuals’ susceptibility to social influence, which eventually affects their adoption behavior and assess how these relationships vary with gender in new product adoption.

Data were collected based on a survey of young consumers regarding the adoption of new consumer electronics. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and multiple sample analyses.

The study finds that opinion leaders are more sensitive to influence from others when the mechanism of status competition is at work. Although consumers who are more susceptible to normative influence tend to adopt new products later than others, those who are more susceptible to status competition are more likely to adopt earlier. The results also provide evidence for gender differences. Female leaders are more susceptible to status competition, whereas male leaders are less sensitive to informational influence. The effects of susceptibility to normative influence and status competition on adoption behavior are stronger for female than for male consumers.

The overall structural model predicts an interesting relationship between individual influence and susceptibility, as well as the effects of these factors on adoption behavior. This study also provides deeper insights into the dynamics of the social influence mechanisms at work for each gender in new product adoption.

By delineating electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) into numerical rating and opinionated review, the purpose of this paper is to advance a research model that articulates how the provision of e-WOM can aid in alleviating consumers’ distrust of online service providers, a key determinant in the former’s adoption of the latter. The authors also endeavor to uncover the role gender plays in moderating the aforementioned relationship between e-WOM and distrust.

The research model was validated via a field survey administered on 115 college students and faculty members, who had been exposed to a custom-developed online restaurant review website. SmartPLS 2.0.M3 was employed to verify both the measurement and structural properties of the research model.

Distrust reduces male consumers’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use toward an online service provider while increasing their adoption intention. For their female counterparts, distrust reduces both perceived ease of use and adoption intention for an online service provider. Additionally, for male consumers, only opinionated review aids in alleviating distrust. Conversely, both numerical rating and opinionated review aid in alleviating the distrust of female consumers. Moreover, in contrast to their female counterparts, male consumers are less susceptible to the influence of cognitive dissonance between numerical rating and opinionated review.

This study integrates distrust with the technology acceptance model (TAM) in an attempt to gain a deeper appreciation of technology acceptance behavior. Furthermore, this study builds on the confirmation bias theory to delineate e-WOM into numerical rating and opinionated review in order to better explicate variations in how males and females react to these two distinct forms of e-WOM. Consistent with the cognitive dissonance theory, the distinction between numerical rating and opinionated review enables further exploration of the impact of cognitive dissonance between these two forms of e-WOM on male and female consumers’ distrust of online service providers. Finally, this study unveils contrasting conflict resolution strategies adopted by male and female consumers to cope with cognitive dissonance in e-WOM.

Findings from this study yield prescriptions for practitioners in terms of how e-WOM can be harnessed to alleviate consumers’ distrust of online service provider. Whereas it is crucial for online service providers to draw on opinionated review to reduce distrust for male consumers, numerical rating should be emphasized for female consumers. This study also sensitizes practitioners to the drawback of providing both numerical rating and opinionated review at the same time due to the potential for cognitive dissonance.

This study is the first to: position distrust within the well-accepted TAM in order to enrich the understanding of technology acceptance behavior; testify to the importance of delineating between numerical rating and opinionated review due to the possibility of cognitive dissonance between these two distinct forms of e-WOM, as well as; uncover contrasting conflict resolution strategies adopted by male and female consumers to cope with cognitive dissonance in accordance with the confirmation bias theory.

This paper aims to articulate the gender differences in the influence of service quality on online consumer behavior.

Through data collected via a Web-based questionnaire survey from 330 consumers in China, this study builds and analyzes a structural equation model, using five dimensions of E-service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and focuses on the moderation test of gender.

This study finds that first, efficiency dimension of e-service quality is of same importance for male and female customers; second, there are significant gender differences in the responsiveness and reliability dimensions of E-service quality, which affect customer satisfaction; third, the impact of female customer satisfaction on customer loyalty is stronger than for male customers.

Online retailers with limited service resources should preferentially respond to service requests from male customers and provide more reliable services for female consumers under the same condition.

The research validated the applicability of self-regulation theory in online consumer behavior, explored the occurrence stage and characteristics of gender differences in online consumer behavior under influence of SRT and first found some apparent gender differences in the influence of different dimensions of e-service quality on online consumer behavior.

This study aims to explore the impact of women empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertising exposure on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intents.

The quantitative research approach was used to assess the women-empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertising on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, explicating the most effective approach in marketing communication in the Arab context, specifically Egypt. Administrated questionnaires were distributed online cross-gender through the use of convenience sampling. The targeted average sample size sought was minimum of 370. Once the data was acquired, partial least square path modelling of structural equation modelling was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Results show that male consumers and female consumers react to a certain extent differently to women-empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertisings. For instance, gender-stereotypical advertisings effect attitude for both genders; it effects male consumers’ purchase intentions, but not female consumers. Women empowerment advertising is insignificant on brand attitude and purchase intention among male consumers; among female consumers, it has significant impact on brand attitude, but not purchase intention. Nevertheless, both categories of advertising contribute to male consumers’ and female consumers’ perception and attitude towards gender role portrayal.

This study provides noteworthy insights and perspectives on women-empowerment (Femvertising) and gender-stereotypical advertising effects on cross-gender consumers in the Arab region (a region of strong masculine culture values). The emerged conclusions aid as a reference and guide for scholars and practitioners to develop effective advertising that create prospect depictions and build inspired female customer base.