Gender Differences in the Effects of a Product's Utilities and Identity Consumption on Purchase Intentions.

This study will examine similarities and differences among men and
women in forming purchase intentions. Theoretically, when exploring
purchase intentions, identity consumption is an important determinant in
purchase formation on its own, but the mechanism of how it interacts with
other purchasing variables is still unclear. In the purchasing context, men
are described as more instrumental than women, and women are described
as more focused on the shopping experience. Hence, in addition to the main
effect of acquisition and transaction utilities, the combination of high levels
of identity consumption and a high degree of transaction utility should
contribute to explaining purchase intentions among women only. In contrast,
the combination of high levels of identity consumption and a high degree of
acquisition utility should contribute to explaining purchase intentions among
men only. The results show significant independent effects of both acquisition
and transaction utilities in forming purchase intentions for both men and
women. Interactive effects between utility and identity consumption indicate
significance for transaction utility and identity consumption for women,
and significance for acquisition utility and identity consumption for men.
Implications of the findings for the general theory of consumer behavior as
well as managerial insights are also discussed.