How gender norms shape preference: the role of counter-stereotypes

This study examines how socially constructed gender norms shape individuals’ consumption preferences and how exposure to counter-stereotypes can challenge these patterns. We found that when making decisions for themselves, men prefer products related to intelligence, whereas women prefer products that enhance physical attractiveness (Study 1). Furthermore, we reveal that this relationship between gender and product preferences also emerges when individuals make purchase decisions for the other gender. In addition, exposure to counter-stereotypes moderates this effect (Study 2). This research is one of the first to examine how socially constructed gender norms shape consumption preferences and suggests that gender-stereotyped engagement with societal expectations can be mitigated by exposure to counter-stereotypes (e.g. reading a text in contrast to a stereotype).