طراحی طبیعی برای مردسالاری در مقابل طراحی طبیعی زن سالاری؟پیش بینی انتخاب مصرف کنندگان مرد از محصولات جنسیتی تصویربرداری با تستوسترون در دوران بارداری

In this paper, we find that a proxy of prenatal testosterone exposure (i.e., digit ratio) is a significant predictor of preferences for products that differ in perceived masculinity vs. femininity. A more masculine (feminine) digit ratio predicts choice of products that have an increasingly masculine (feminine) image. This relationship is statistically significant for male consumers, but not for females.

People's sex-typed, or gender-related, characteristics and behaviors are influenced by sex hormones that are present during prenatal development (for a review, see Cohen-Bendahan, van de Beek, & Berenbaum, 2005). For instance, studies in psychology and biomedicine show that prenatal testosterone exposure influences one's sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as other physical, cognitive, and personality characteristics that are gender-related (for a review, see Hines, 2010). In this paper, we replicate these studies in the marketing/consumer domain and examine the link between prenatal testosterone exposure and preferences for gender-imaged products. In particular, we investigate the link between consumer preferences and the “2D:4D digit ratio”—which refers to the ratio of the length of the index (2D) and ring finger (4D) and which is an established biomarker indicating the level of testosterone to which individuals were exposed before birth (McIntyre, 2006). The digit ratio reliably differs by sex, with males having a lower digit ratio. Moreover, studies find that individuals with lower (vs. higher) digit ratios display more pronounced masculine and less pronounced feminine behaviors than members of their sex typically display. Most relevantly for marketing, the digit ratio has also been shown to predict visual preferences for masculine vs. feminine toys within both genders in a laboratory setting (i.e., eye fixations on masculine vs. feminine toys) (Alexander, 2006). In the present conceptual replication, we investigate whether the digit ratio predicts actual product choices (beyond eye-tracking) in a real consumption environment (beyond laboratory).

Our results are consistent with research showing that sex hormones which are present during prenatal development predict sexually differentiated dispositions and behaviors later in life (Cohen-Bendahan et al., 2005). In particular, we replicate the finding that prenatal testosterone exposure affects product preferences (Alexander, 2006), yet conclude that digit ratio affects not only visual preferences for toys in laboratory, but also actual product and clothing color choices in real markets. We anticipate that prenatal testosterone exposure may affect preferences in other product categories than these as well, because the digit ratio is a relatively permanent, innate characteristic that may exert its influence on a wide range of economic preferences (for a review, see Millet, 2011).