Study of male & female differences in advertisement processing and buying behavior

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on the biological and social origins of gender differences, describes the current theories regarding how these gender differences translate into differences in information processing and judgment; and concludes with a discussion of the advertising implications of such differences. Gender has been and continues to be one of the most common forms of segmentation used by marketers in general and advertisers in particular. To successfully implement such a segmentation strategy marketers and advertisers need to understand how men and women process marketing information, judge products, and behave in the marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the origins of the observed gender differences, provide a critical review of the literature on the information processing differences between males and females, and discuss the major implications of such gender differences for advertising message design. Primary research has also been employed in the structuring of this study through the help of questionnaires.