Impact of Ads on Male vs Female Consumer Buying Behaviour

G R O U P M E M B E R S

A n i l a M u h a m m e d B a s h i r

F a t i m a S y e d

M o e e z a S a e e d

S y e d U s m a n W a z i r

Z a i n M a l i k

EFFECT OF ADVERTISMENT ON MALE Vs FEMALE BUYING BEHAVIOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Only until you have climbed the mountains can you look behind you and

see the vast distance you have covered, and remember those you’ve met

along the way who made your trek a little easier”.

Our Report has finally been completed, after many miles of weary travel, We

look back to those who helped us turn it into reality and offer our heartfelt

thanks: to Allah almighty, for the strength and wisdom: to our Instructor Mr.

Ammar Waheed, for his precious time and instructions. We would also like to

thank to Mr Salman Shehzad who really helped us in using the statistical

tools. And last but certainly not the least, to each other, whose presence

served help more than anyone.

CHAPTER 1

RESEARCH

PROPOSAL

Abstract

In this research paper, we have studied the impact of advertisements on

male vs. female consumer buying behavior. We have take into account

various variables like age, gender, brand recall and effect of advertisement

in order to drive a relationship between advertising and consumer’s decision-

making regarding purchase. Men and women perceive advertisements

differently and hence both genders require different persuasive techniques.

We have taken neutral products/services for this analysis so as to provide

both the genders with same circumstances to come up with an objective

comparison. A broader age bracket of 18-60 years has been taken as the

sample for this research, which was further divided into sub groups as per

our requirements. For this, we focused on the Rawalpindi/Islamabad region in

order to support the market trends of that particular region. This would help

the firms in creating marketing strategies focused to both the genders,

separately. In the end, we worked on our research topic to either prove or

disapprove our proposed hypotheses.

Problem Statement

Men and women have different tendencies of being affected by

advertisements. This is why companies do not know exactly that which

customer group, men or women are easier to influence through marketing

campaigns. Therefore, the advertising budget is not spent accordingly to

come up with a precise promotional campaign needed. If targeting men is

easier, then the marketing should be done accordingly and if affecting

women is easier, then the marketing campaign should be tailor made in

order to reach that customer segment in a more effective manner.

This shows that companies lack the awareness of whom to target through

their promotional campaigns. Whether females would be easier to effect

through the advertisements or males, this still hasn’t been proven according

to the Pakistani market.

Based on all this, it can be stated that the companies end up spending a lot

of their advertising budget on irrelevant target audience. Sometimes, when

`targeting and attracting one specific gender would be more profitable,

companies keep wasting their resources on marketing on a mass scale,

which results in an unnecessary burden on the already scarce resources.

Research Objectives

This research paper was basically intended towards identifying the general

trend in the effect that advertising has on the buying behavior of consumers.

The consumers have been specifically studied in accordance to their

respective gender. An important factor under study was that who is impacted

more by any advertisement; whether it is males or females. Another

important factor that was studied was that customers belonging to which

gender have a better brand recall. This is because brand recall plays a very

important role in the resulting purchase; if a consumer can recall the brand,

he/she will most probably buy it.

For this research, a few hypotheses have been enacted:

Hypotheses

I- Women have more spontaneous buying habits as compared to men.

II- Men and women perceive advertisements differently.

III- Brand recall leads to purchase.

IV- Women have better brand recall as compared to men.

V- Brand recall differs in different age brackets.

The main form of our research was exploratory study because there was not

much material regarding this specific topic already available. The data that

was already available was mainly regarding the foreign markets. We

intended to conduct this research in our domestic market, which is Pakistan

and hence we needed data regarding the consumers from this region

specifically. Therefore, first hand research was carried out by exploring the

consumer characteristics in this region specifically on a sample of around

500 people within the chosen age bracket of 18-50years in Rawalpindi.

Literature Review

Consumer buying behavior is an important area of research for marketers

and business developers. The importance of studying consumer buying

behavior is imperative from the fact that most product launch features,

marketing strategies and positioning strategies are made under the influence

of consumer buying trends. These trends are further integrated with regards

to gender i.e. male consumer buying behavior vs. female consumer buying

behavior. In this regard the persuasiveness of a particular product is different

for each gender. This paper builds on earlier papers to propose a model of

gender based buying behavior with regards to the impact of advertisements

leading to a higher brand recall.

We included gender based on Block and Morwitz’s (1999) study about the

use of shopping lists. Cobb and Hoyer (1986) found that women are more

likely to plan their purchases than men are. Block and Morwitz (1999)

attribute this tendency to three reasons. First, traditionally, females have

been in charge of grocery shopping. Second, because of such traditions,

females tend to know more about stores and products. Third, also due to

their traditional role, females have a better idea about inventory levels when

they go shopping than males do (Goldman and Johansson, 1978; Urbany et

al., 1996).

Thus, it is not surprising that Block and Morwitz (1999, pp. 361-2) found that

the probability that a purchased product was on a planned list was higher for

females than for males. They concluded:

“The probability that an external memory aid [formal or informal shopping

list] was used for an item given the item was purchased, is greater if the

shopper is female.”

Therefore, females, who abide by pre-planned lists (written or mental), will

exhibit lower levels of compulsive purchase behavior than males will.

Measuring advertising effectiveness differences offers the direct marketers

the opportunity to spend the advertising money in a more targeted mode.

Studies concerning males vs. female’s general advertising effectiveness

levels indicate that gendered differences are apparent. Genders magnitude

as a variable for market segmentation is positioned on the fact that it meets

several requirements for successful implementation including:

• Identifiability

• Accessibility

• Measurability

• Responsiveness to marketing mix elements; and

• Profitability (Darley and Smith 1995)

Three types of processes/purchase types have been recognized in the

context of this research (Solomon, 2002). First, unplanned buying occurs

mostly when a consumer is unfamiliar with a store’s layout, is under time

pressure, or is reminded of the need to buy if an item when seeing it on the

shelf. In contrast, impulse buying is an outcome of a sudden consumer’s

irresistible urge to buy an item spontaneously. Finally, compulsive buying

refers to consumers’ repetitive shopping, at times excessive, because of

boredom, tension, or anxiety (Solomon, 2002), which both can then be

attributed to brand recall and advertisement effect.

Previous research has shown that In line with our theoretical arguments,

gender was a significant predictor of buying behavior based on brand recall.

Thus, our study has provided additional support to earlier research on impact

of advertisement on males vs females with regards to brand recall (Block and

Morwitz, 1999) and leading to buying decision (Cobb and Hoyer, 1986).

Apparently, as argued by Block and Morwitz (1999), Pakistani females are

still in charge of grocery shopping and serve as family experts on stores and

products in many families. Additionally, in line with their traditional roles,

females recognize inventory depletion when they go shopping (Goldman and

Johansson, 1978; Urbany et al., 1996). “Because of their traditional roles as

house-makers, females in our study were more likely to exhibit a tendency

for advertisement based purchasing. As house chores are split more evenly

in developed countries, the expertise of both husbands and wives may be

more evenly divided than it was in the past. Future research might examine

the impact of gender in more complex societies, such as certain mid-east

and central asian countries”.1

Additionally, previous research has established differential gender roles

across products. The seminal work of Davis and Rigaux (1975) added

structure to the study of family decision-making roles (Davis, 1970). They

identified three phases of decision-making: problem recognition; search for

information; and final decision. The roles and relative influence of husbands

1 Shoham A., Makovec Brenčič M. (2003), Consumer Buying Behavior, Journal of consumer marketing, volume 20 Issue 2, p 127-138

and wives differed based on decision-making stage and product type (Moore-

Shay and Wilkie, 1988; Wilkes, 1975; Yavas et al., 1994). Davis and Rigaux

(1974), Bonfield (1978), and Putnam and Davidson (1987) found that

decision-making tends to become more syncratic or joint in more advanced

stages (Moore-Shay and Wilkie, 1988; Shuptrine and Samuelson, 1976). It is

a notable fact that women plan what to buy; therefore a topic for significant

future research is to analyze if their purchases are planned, for all the

products or if the compulsive decisions are restricted to the female dominant

products.

Hence the basis of our research was established on following research

papers:

1. Web advertising: gender differences in beliefs, attitude and behavior,

Lori D wolin, Pradeep Korgaonkar

2. Gender, Identity and the consumption of advertising, Margaret K Hogg

and Jade Garrow

3. The effects of Multiple ads and multiple brands on consumer attitude

and purchase behavior, Lefa Teng et al

4. Understanding demographic effects on marketing communications in

services, Maureen Fitz Gerald, David Arnott

5. Effectiveness of advertisement on a high and low loyalty consumer

segments by S.P. Raj, 1982

6. Pioneering experiment in assessing advertisement effectiveness by

T.E.Coffin 1963

Importance/Benefit of study

This research is beneficial, firstly, for the advertising agencies, as it will

become easier for them to formulate the exact integrated marketing

strategies for their customers so as to target the respective audience of the

organization. It will also help the organizations to optimally distribute their

marketing expenditure over different mediums of advertising, catering to

their target group. It will also provide a platform to the market researchers of

the respective organization to devise the marketing budget in accordance

with a perfect balance between the medium chosen and the audience

targeted. This will support them in identifying their target segment that they

can influence and which can work in their favor. Hence getting the maximum

return on what they will invest for marketing their product/services.

It will also guide the marketers to identify the factors that influence the

audience more effectively in any advertisement and so those can be worked

on. Also it will be analyzed that how men and women perceive

advertisements differently and hence what are the factors that lead to their

purchase decision.

This study has helped us in solving the dilemma as we have become able to

identify the factors of advertisement that co-relate with each other or in any

way affect the male and female buying decision. How well the product or

service is communicated, can be analyzed by the buying trends of the

consumers. It can be further broken down into different genders, as both the

genders perceive advertisements regarding the neutral products/services

differently and hence require different persuasive techniques.

Research Design

The basic point of this research paper was to analyze how advertising affects

male and female consumers differently. For this, a few hypotheses had been

developed which have been stated above. We observed the behaviors of

both these consumers through different means so that the hypotheses that

we have come up with can be verified or proven otherwise.

Considering the extensive nature of the topic under study and the level on

which we were, it was obvious that we had to bind our research to a

controllable scale. For this purpose, our research was limited to data related

to just two cities namely Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Dependant and

Independent variables were identified as per the data collected. The age

bracket that was being analyzed for this purpose was between 18-50 years

of age that is covering the young and adult age group. We selected this

group because we believed that a major chunk of our population of

purchasers fell in this age bracket.

Some of the techniques that were used to collect the data for our research

was mainly qualitative as no previous data was available on such a topic

especially for Pakistan. They were as follows:

1. Surveys – a sample size of 1000 will be surveyed constituting of both

the female and male population with equal proportions. This survey

would help us to analyze how males and females respond differently to

different advertisements and this will show how their attitudes towards

products are shaped.

The surveys would provide us with data directly filled out by the

customers themselves and as was said earlier that there isn’t much

data available regarding the customers of the area that we are

researching on, these surveys will act as the starting point for some of

the variables that we have to study.

2. Interviews – This would involve interviewing some customers

randomly in order to analyze customer behavior through a more

personal approach. A discussion with the customer can sometimes

uncover several factors, which we could have previously missed out

on.

3. Focus Group – this will involve carrying out a discussion in a

controlled environment. This discussion will basically help us in

determining whether males and females have different views regarding

different advertisements that we will raise a discussion on. Both the

genders will be in the same environment and under same conditions

because of which unreasonable variations cannot arise in the response.

Based on this data, the qualitative techniques will give us an in-depth

analysis that would lead to our findings.

Data Analysis

As per the objective of our research that is to study the impact of

advertisement on male vs. female consumer buying behavior, we plan to

carry out the preliminary research through the surveys, interviews and

focused group discussions of random consumers.

The quantitative techniques being regression analysis and few selected SPC

tools, will then be employed once the data has been collected which will give

us an objective overview of the data. Once the data has been analyzed,

conclusions will be drawn based on the extensive study that would be

completed.

For this purpose, the following quantitative techniques will be utilized:

1. Regression Analysis – this will measure several relationships

between some dependant and independent variables that we will be

indentifying in this research. These relationships will assist us in

reaching to conclusions regarding whether advertising has a different

impact on males and females.

2. Coefficient of correlation – to analyze the correlation between the

different variables so as to support the respective hypothesis.

3. SPC (Statistical Process Control) – identify the relationship

between the cause and effect variables.

The previously mentioned hypotheses will be analyzed by qualitative and

quantitative techniques. As for assumptions, we have assumed

advertisement being the independent variable; dependent variables that we

have identified up till now would be brand recall, gender, age and

educational level.

The data required for this will directly be collected from surveys and

interviews of the consumers of our sample. For this the survey form will be

built such as to cater to these data requirement.

Limitations for our research study would be that it will just cater to the

Rawalpindi/Islamabad region. Other would include the dependent variables

identified above.

Our research study can be generalized provided the similar circumstances

that we have taken up for this paper. It may also include other cities or even

countries with similar cultural and demographical aspects. Further research

in such regions would help in generalizing the findings of this research.

Nature and Form of Results

We have presented our result in different forms for example graphical

representation of statistical data, tables, charts and figures. These

techniques would help us in the evaluation of our results.

Facilities, Resources & proposed Budget

Following are some of the items and their approximate costs that might be

required for the conduction of our research:

Recourses Quantity Cost Total Cost

Computer

1) Personal Computer at

home

2) E-commerce Lab computer

3) Laptops

Pc – 2

E-com computers – 5

Laptops - 2

N/A N/A

Internet

1) Micronet Broadband (DSL)

(home)

2) Micronet Broadband (DSL)

(E-commerce Lab)

---

N/A

Rs. 1200

N/A

Rs. 1200

N/A

Printer

1) HP (At home)

2) E-commerce Lab Printer

2 Printers

N/A

Rs. 1400 per

cartridge

N/A

Rs. 1400

N/A

Stationary & binding --- Rs. 500 Rs. 500

Online Journals/Emerald N/A N/A N/A

Instructors Cooperation N/A N/A N/A

Traveling Expenses 5 persons --- Rs. 1000

Total --- --- Rs. 4100

CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH DESIGN

Description of Research Design

Formal Study – In our study we formulated four basic hypothesizes and

then carried out the whole research process to test those hypothesizes.

Basically it was to check which one among those holds true or even false in

some of the cases. In short this is a formal study because hypothesizes were

formulated in the very beginning and the entire research was carried out to

prove or disapprove those.

Communication Study – In this method of data collection it is the

responsibility of the researcher to question the subjects and record the

respondents’ response by personal or impersonal means so that the data

could be used as a basis for testing the hypothesis by using various

statistical tools. We call our study a communication study because in the

initial stages we devised a formal questionnaire. Also to have a fair idea

about consumer response we had a pilot testing session taken place online

DescriptionThe degree to which the research question

has been crystallized

Formal Study

The method of data collection Communication StudyThe power of the researcher to produce

effects in the variables under study

Experiment

The purpose of the study Casual StudyThe time dimension Cross-sectional StudyThe topical scope, breadth and depth of

the study

Statistical Studies

The research environment Field conditionsThe participants perceptions of research

activity

Daily Routine

as well. Both the questionnaires are attached in the appendix. Therefore our

method of data collection falls under the communication study.

Experiment – Experiment provides the researcher with enough flexibility to

manipulate the variables in the study so as not to distort the overall result of

the study. For example one of our hypotheses was that women are more

spontaneous shoppers than men; that is they tend to buy things which they

have not even planned. In order to test this hypothesis we have assumed

that all the women in our sample size belong to the income group who has

the purchasing power of buying products/services on instinct while they are

shopping; which actually means that money is not a constraint in this case

whereas a more practical approach would be that there are income groups

where women do not have the budget to accommodate products/services

bought at an impulse.

Casual Study – The main objective of research was to analyze the

effectiveness of marketing mediums on the male/female buying behavior;

with our main focus on their brand recall ability. Therefore through out the

research we made an effort to explain the relationship among our variables

and that is it true that females have a better brand recall then men or for

that matter what is the effect of using television as a marketing medium

compared to a billboard.

Cross-sectional Study – We believe our study to be so as our study wasn’t

extended over a period of time but it was conducted over a continuous point

in time. The entire project was completed within a time frame of

approximately 12 weeks.

Statistical Studies - These types of studies mainly emphasize on

highlighting the breath of the topic. This means that the one aspect of the

entire topic will not entirely discuss the problem statement in detail with

relation to the male/female buying behavior and marketing medium

effectiveness. The results of the study are being supported by using

statistical tools and techniques such as descriptive statistics.

Field Conditions – The whole study was conducted under the actual

environmental conditions so as not to leave any room for manipulation.

Participant Perceptions – the participants involved were surveyed under

the routine environment so as not to effect, mould or manipulate the natural

perception of the respondent.

Independent Variables (IV) & Dependent Variables ( DV)

The dependent variable is the effect of advertisement; and the independent

variables are brand recall, gender and age respectively. Below is a tabular

representation of the two types of variables categorizing the data types that

they individually fall into.

Variables

Dependent

Variable

Independent Variable

Data Type Effect of

Advertisement

Brand Recall Gender Age

Nominal

Ordinal

Ratio

Research Methods

Communication Methods Chosen

1. Self-administered Survey – A Survey was conducted in the Rawalpindi/

Islamabad region.

a. Sample survey & measurement scale types:

Gender: Male/Female

Age: (18-25)/(26-40)/(41-50)

City: Rawalpindi/Islamabad

The following table shows the variables that are measured in specific

hypotheses along with their data types, respectively. It also tells about the

corresponding types of measurement scales used against the respective data

types. Sample questions from the survey can be seen.

Hypotheses Variable

Measured

Data Type Measurement

Scales

Sample

Question

Number

H-I Gender Nominal Multiple Choice

(single

response)

1 and 2

H-II Affect of

advertisemen

ts

Ordinal Ranking

(forced),

Multiple Choice

(single

response)

3, 4, 5 and 6

H-III Brand Recall Ordinal Multiple Choice

(single

response), Free

response

7, 8, 9, 10

and 11

The questions were categorized as per the hypothesis taken up for the

research. Following measurement scales were used in making the survey.

The survey is attached in the appendix.

• Multiple choice—single response

• Forced Ranking Scale

• Free Response

2. Interviews – although we could not conduct formal interviews. However

while conducting the surveys we realized that most of the respondents

did not have the know how of how to go about it. So during those

sessions we not only administered them but also interacted with them

so as to make things sensible and easier for them.

CHAPTER 3

FINDINGS

H-1

Women have more spontaneous buying habits as compared to

men

Following findings were made on the basis of our survey; the findings

are represented on the basis of males vs. females.

Females:

36% females in the age strata of 18-25 have responded YES to the

question that they make a shopping list and plan their shopping.

Similarly, 56% of females in the strata of 26-40 responded that they

also plan their shopping and 48% of the females in the age strata of

40-50 responded that plan their shopping. On the other hand 12% of

the females in age strata 18-25 responded YES to the question that

they “stick to the shopping list they have planned for”. In this regard,

6% of the females in the age strata 26-40 were the ones that stuck to

the planned shopping list and 24% of females in age strata 40+ stuck

to their shopping list.

Males:

10% males in the age strata of 18-25 have responded YES to the

question that they make a shopping list and plan their shopping.

Similarly, 28% of males in the strata of 26-40 responded that they also

plan their shopping and 58% of the females in the age strata of 40-50

responded that plan their shopping. On the other hand 20% of the

males in age strata 18-25 responded YES to the question that they

“stick to the shopping list they have planned for”. In this regard, 36%

of the males in the age strata 26-40 were the ones that stuck to the

planned shopping list and 34% of males in age strata 40+ stuck to

their shopping list.

H-2

Men and women perceive advertisements differently

In this regards our questionnaire was as such so that to measure the

perception of advertisement depending on gender. The questionnaire

was designed to find the most effective medium of advertising that

influences males vs. females and theme of the advertisement as well

as the perception that whether advertisements portray a true picture

of a particular add or not. Similarly, the attractive attention of a

particular add was also found with regards to respective gender as

well.

Females:

64% of the females in the Strata of 18-25 rate TV as the highest

medium of influence through advertisement, where as 92% of females

in the strata of 26-40 rated TV as the highest medium of influence and

similarly 76% of the females in the strata of 40+ have rated TV as the

highest medium as well.

On the same note, 40% of the females in the strata of 18-25 rated

humorous theme followed by 28% rated that celebrity endorsed

themes are most appreciated in advertisements. Where as 46%

females in the strata of 26-40 rated emotional theme as the most

influential factor followed by 32% females in the strata of 40+ rated

humorous data as most influential.

When asked whether advertisements give a true picture of a product or

service and to what extent advertisements attract their attention. 52%

of the females in the 18-25 strata rated that they are not sure whether

the advertisement portrays a true picture of a product or not. This is

followed by 44% females of the same strata that feel that they are to

some extent attracted by the advertisement. Similarly none of the

females in the strata of 26-40 feels that advertisements give a true

picture of the product or service that is marketed. Followed by 35%

females of this strata felt that they are somewhat influenced/attracted

by an advertisement that catches their attention. Where as 22% of the

females in the strata of 40+ says that advertisements do portray a

true picture of the product or service being marketed. And 50% of the

females of this stratum feel that advertisements attract their attention

a lot.

Males:

70% of the males in the Strata of 18-25 rate TV as the highest medium

of influence through advertisement, where as 52% of males in the

strata of 26-40 rated TV as the highest medium of influence and

similarly 66% of the males in the strata of 40+ have rated TV as the

highest medium as well.

On the same note, 34% of the males in the strata of 18-25 rated

humorous theme followed by 24% rated that celebrity endorsed

themes are most appreciated in advertisements. Where as 44% males

in the strata of 26-40 rated informative theme as the most influential

factor followed by 66% males in the strata of 40+ rated celebrity

endorsed themes as most influential.

When asked whether advertisements give a true picture of a product or

service and to what extent advertisements attract their attention. 64%

of the males in the 18-25 strata rated that advertisements do not

portray a true picture of a product. Similarly 52% of the males in the

strata of 26-40 feel that advertisements don’t give a true picture of the

product or service that is marketed. Where as 44% of the males in the

strata of 40+ says that advertisements do not portray a true picture of

the product or service being marketed. And 50% of the males of this

stratum feel that advertisements attract their attention a lot.

H-3(a)

Brand Recall leads to purchase:

In this regard our questionnaire was as such so that to find whether

brand recall leads to purchase or not. And we found that 58% of

females in the strata of 18-25 against 58% of males in the same strata

are sure that an advertisement had created an inert feeling in them to

try out a product thus leading to purchase behavior on the basis of

brand recall. Whereas 56% of the females in the strata of 26-40

against 36% of the males in the same strata feel that an advertisement

had created an inert feeling in them to try out a product thus leading

to purchase behavior on the basis of brand recall. Similarly 52% of

females in the strata of 40+feels that an advertisement had created an

inert feeling in them to try out a product thus leading to purchase

behavior on the basis of brand recall against 44% males in the same

strata felt that advertisement had not created an inert feeling in them

to try out a product so that to lead to a purchase behavior on the basis

of brand recall.

H-3(b)

Brand Recall

In this regard our questionnaire was designed to ask both the genders

whether their purchase decision is based on brand recall or not and

how often. And to test their brand recall capacity with regards to

gender we designed questions that specifically targeted their brand

recall capability.

Our findings thus are that 78% females in the strata of 26-40 rarely

make their purchase on the basis of brand recall and 60% of the males

in the strata of 40+ rarely make a purchase on the basis of brand

recall. And 38% females and males of the same strata of 18-25 often

make a purchase on the basis of brand recall.

With regards to the analysis of brand recall capacity, we found that

37.33% females have a strong brand recall while 21.33% males have

the same capacity of a strong brand recall.

CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS

Hypothesis 1: Women have more spontaneous buying habits as

compared to men.

The first two questions were meant to test this hypothesis. The respondents

were asked whether they make a list before going for shopping or not and

that whether they stick to that list or not. According to the response that we

got, we came to know that around 32% males did planned shopping while

46.7% of the females agreed that they made a shopping list. This obviously

shows females are more planned shoppers as compared to men. Males who

did not plan their shopping were 50.7% which is far higher than 26.7%

females; this shows that males are much more spontaneous than females

when it comes to shopping.

In the second question, we observed that 39.3% men did not stick to what

they had planned for shopping while most of the females, i.e. 57.3% claimed

that they did not stick to their shopping lists. This means that even if these

women had planned their shopping, they did not end up following it and

hence they can be proved to be more spontaneous buyers as compared to

men. Hence the first hypothesis can be safely taken as true.

H1: ACCEPTED

Hypothesis 2: Men and women perceive advertisements differently.

This hypothesis was tested from four different angles. Firstly we observed

that which advertising medium was more effective for each gender, then we

saw that what kind of advertisement themes were preferred by males and

females, after that it was inquired whether men and women believed that

advertisements were true or not and lastly it was asked that to what extent

did advertisements attract their attention. These different angles gave us the

opportunity to see how advertisements were perceived differently by men

and women.

The exposure of different advertising mediums is different among both the

genders. This was evident by the results in which we saw that although men

and women both ranked TV as the most effective while billboards as the

second most effective medium, the percentage of women ranking TV as the

most important was much more than that of men (women: 77.3, men: 62.7)

and the percentage of men ranking billboards as the second most effective

medium was much more than that of women (women: 10.7, men: 18.7). Also

we see that in men’s rankings, newspaper turns out to be the third most

effective medium while females have ranked radio as the third most

important. Side be side, men have ranked radio as the fourth most important

and internet as the least important while females have ranked internet as

the fourth most important while newspaper as the least important. These

findings can be attributed to specific reasons as well. We see that women in

our society mostly stay at home while men have to go out for their jobs. This

is why men have a higher exposure rate to billboards as compared to women

and women have a higher exposure rate to TV as opposed to men. Staying

mostly at home, women also tend to listen to radio more as opposed to

reading newspapers while men tend to read newspapers more as opposed to

radio. These are the reasons why men and women have different perceptions

about different mediums.

Coming to the second question, we see that women were seen to be most

influenced by humorous, emotional and celebrity endorsed advertising

themes. Men on the other hand were most affected by celebrity endorsed,

informative and humorous advertising themes. When we compare the

percentages, we see that 40.7% men ranked celebrity endorsed advertising

as the most effective while only 27.3% women ranked it as the most

important. For men, the second most important was informative advertising

and third was humorous. For women, the percentage was equal at 27.3% for

all their most favored themes. We also see that 14.7% men ranked

adventurous advertising as most effective while only 8% women agreed on

that. These differences are clearly attributable to the gender differences.

Men are more affected by celebrity endorsed advertising as for them, a

beautiful model marketing a product would obviously be more attractive than

anything else; we can conclude that to be men’s nature. Also men are more

interested in the facts and figures about everything and so obviously

informative advertising is preferred. Women are more emotional as opposed

to men and so for them, emotional advertisements are more effective. They

are often more affected by the emotional themes and so they aren’t really

bothered about the information being delivered in the ad and that is why that

theme has not been ranked very high. Also they are not rough and tough and

adventurous like men and so they have ranked the adventurous adverting

theme the lowest. So by this we can see that men and women may slightly

have similar advertisement choices but the percentages, which prefer

different advertisements, are quite different.

In question number five; respondents were specifically asked what they

thought about advertisements giving a true picture of the products being

marketed. As expected, a very small percentage of men and women agreed

that advertisements were true. The number of males and females choosing

that option were roughly the same. As for people who did not believe that

advertisements were true, there was a huge difference in the number of men

and women, which believed so. Around 60% males confidently said that

advertisements do no portray the products very truly and around 40%

women believed the same. This shows the differing perceptions very clearly.

Around 45% women chose the option ‘maybe’ because they were not really

sure about advertisements’ authenticity. Compared to that, only 24% males

chose this option; yet again a visible difference.

In the last question for this hypothesis, people were asked that to what

extent did advertisements attracted their attention. Around 35% women

chose the ‘a lot’ option whereas only 20% men chose this option. There was

also an option of ‘somewhat’ for people who were not very confident about

whether advertisements did or did not attract their attention. Around 61%

males resided to this option whereas approximately 49% females ticked it

too. The percentage of males who confidently believed that advertisements

did not attract their attention at all was clearly more than that of women at

about 9% as opposed to just 2%. These percentage differences between men

and women clearly depict the differing perceptions that they have about

advertisements. It can also be related to the previous two questions. We saw

that nearly 60% men believed that advertisements did not give a true

picture of the products being marketed. Still around 61% said that

advertisements somewhat attracted their attention. This shows that men

may not believe that advertisements are true, still they attract their

attention due to possible reasons like men ranking the celebrity endorsed

advertisements very high.

H2: ACCEPTED

Hypothesis 3: Brand recall leads to purchase.

Here two questions were posed to test this hypothesis. In the first one,

respondents were asked whether an advertisement ever created an inert

feeling in them to try out a product. Around 37% men said yes to this

question while a visibly greater percentage of women (55%) said yes to this

question. Therefore it can also be induced that it is easier to attract women’s

attention through advertising than men. In men, the percentage, which said

a clear “No”, was around 25% while women who said that an advertisement

never created a feeling in them was only approximately 11% as opposed to

that. Why men are at a higher percentage here and at a lower percentage in

the “Yes” option is because the emotional quotient is lower in men and that it

why they are not easily convinced by advertisements as compared to men.

In the second question for this hypothesis, the respondents were asked how

often their purchase decision was based on brand recall. Most of the

respondents in both males and females chose the “Rarely” option. Second in

line was the “often” option. This shows an interesting fact; people may like

different sorts of advertising themes, they may say that an advertisement

did create an inert feeling to try out a product, but when it comes to actually

purchasing the products, their buying decision is rarely based on brand

recall. This means that the inert feeling created by advertisements was not

strong enough to make people actually buy the product. Just getting a feeling

is different than getting an intention to buy the product.

This means that the hypothesis that brand recall leads to a purchase would

not be very authentic as the results show that people may remember a

product due to it’s advertisements but its not necessary that they would buy

it too when they remember it.

H3: REJECTED

Hypothesis 4: Women have a better brad recall then men.

The last three questions of the questionnaire were meant to test this

hypothesis. Respondents were asked to list out brands that they recalled

from some specific colors, tag lines and celebrities. The results were pretty

straight forward here.

In the first question, which was regarding brands recalled from five specific

colors, it was seen that the percentage of women who scored the maximum

marks, i.e. got all their answers correct, was double than that of men. On

average, men scored far less than women in terms of remembering brands

from different colors.

In the next question, in which respondents were supposed to recall brands

from different tag lines, once again females were the maximum scorers.

Around 70% women scored seven or above out of a total of ten while men

who scored seven or above were only around 40%. This clearly shows the

huge difference in terms of better brand recall.

For the last question too, the total score was ten and respondents had to list

the brands that they remembered from different celebrities. Once again,

around 69% of the women were seven and above scorers which was more

than double than the males which stood at approximately 30%.

We see that when women were inquired about the most effective marketing

medium and advertising theme in their opinion, they had chosen TV and an

emotional advertising theme. This shows that women usually spend more

time at home watching TV as the working woman concept has not evolved in

our society very deeply till now and also they are more emotionally attracted

to the ads as opposed to men. This is why women tend to remember what

they see more as compared to men. We also saw that when it was inquired

whether advertisements give a true picture of the product being marketed or

not, it was seen that mostly women chose the “maybe” option because of

which we can say that they may tend to believe more that ads can be honest

and that is why they may watch the ads with a greater interest than men

who had mostly chosen that ads are not true.

H4: ACCEPTED

Hypothesis 5: Brand recall differs in different age brackets

In the results obtained from brand recall questions, it was seen that younger

consumers in both the genders had a better brand recall than the other two

strata of both males and females. This is because the memory recall is better

in younger age and the younger generation today is more in touch with

media than the older generations. Another reason for this is that companies

tend to target the younger age bracket through advertising campaigns as the

younger consumers can influence the buying behavior of their parents and

grand parents too. So as this younger age bracket is specifically targeted,

the promotional campaigns are bound to affect them more than the older

generations and this is also a reason why younger consumers have a better

brand recall.

H5: ACCEPTED

CHAPTER 5 STATISTICAL MODEL

Statistical Tool

We have not used regression analysis as the variables under analysis cannot

be regressed with the current format of questionnaire that was prepared for

data collection in the initial stage of conducting this research. Currently

Mean is the statistical tool that is being used for question number 9, 10 and

11 because of the fact that all the respondents have provided a score as a

response to the three questions and therefore it is easier to calculate the

mean of both the genders (150 females: 150 Males) so that the average

figures of the two major strata can be statistically analyzed. The rest of the

questions have been analyzed using mode as the major statistical tool

whereas Count was the secondary tool in use.

Question 1 & 2

The hypothesis (I) for these particular questions was formulated to analyze

whether women had more spontaneous buying habits as compared to men

or not. The three response for both the questions were yes, no and

sometimes; and the scores given to them were 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Table 1- Descriptive Statistics Q1 & Q2 (Female)

Q1 Q2

Mean 2.2333

33

Mean 2.74

Median 2 Median 3

Mode 2 Mode 3

Table 2 - Descriptive Statistics Q1 & Q2 (Male)

Q1 Q2

Mean 2.1133 Mean 2.5333

33 33

Median 2 Median 3

Mode 2 Mode 3

Table 15 & 16 show that the most recurring score for question 1 for both the

genders is 2 which means that the majority of respondents in the sample

size have chosen the option “No” for this particular question. This means

that men and women do not plan their shopping and make a shopping list as

well. The mode (3) for question 2 for the both gender indicates that majority

of the subjects in the sample size have opted for “sometimes”(response=3)

as a response, making it clear that they sometimes stick to what they have

planned for shopping where as sometimes the shopping is done

spontaneously

Table 3 - Count Q2

Table 17 shows that 86 females out of the 150

strata size do not stick to what they have planned

for shopping and there are 50 males who admit

that they stick to what they have planned for; this

means that males have a less spontaneous

shopping behavior than women even though the

mode for both the genders was the same.

Q2 Female

Count - Yes 23

Count - No 86

Count - Sometimes 41

Q2 Male

Count - Yes 50

Count - No 60


Table 18 shows that females (Yes=61) are more prone to making a shopping

list and where as males are less prone to doing so as only 52 males have

opted for “yes”; nut the fact remains that the mode value for both the

genders was 2 indicating that shopping lists are not made by majority of

males or females; on the other hand 71 males out of the entire strata of 150

opted for “No” implying that males generally do not make shopping lists.

Table 4 - Count Q1

Question 3 & 4

Question 3 & 4 were included in the questionnaire to analyze hypothesis (II);

question 3 had five responses namely TV, billboard, newspaper, internet and

Q1 Female

Count - Yes 61

Count - No 45


Q1 Male

Count - Yes 52

Count - No 71


radio and the ranks given to then in the data sheet were 1,2,3,4,5

respectively with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest. According to table 19,

in the female strata of the sample size the most recurring value for TV,

billboard, newspaper, internet and radio was 5,4,3,2,1 respectively which

indicates that TV ranked 5th by majority of the female elements of the sample

size.

Table 5 - Descriptive Statistics Q3 (Female)

TV3 Billboard3 Newspaper

Mean 4.2533

33

Mean 3.4333

33

Mean 3.2466

67

Median 5 Median 4 Median 3

Mode 5 Mode 4 Mode 3

Internet Radio

Mean 2.1266

67

Mean 1.94

Median 2 Median 2

Mode 2 Mode 1

The statistics in table 10 indicate the same trend as that of table 19 which

means that the male strata of the sample size have given the same ranks as

that of female strata that is, 5,4,3,2,1 for TV, billboard, newspaper, internet

and radio with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.

Table 6 - Descriptive Statistics Q3 (Male)

TV Billboard Newspaper

Mean 4.4066

67

Mean 3.5266

67

Mean 2.74

Median 5 Median 4 Median 3

Mode 5 Mode 4 Mode 3

Internet Radio

Mean 2.1266

67

Mean 2.2

Median 2 Median 2

Mode 2 Mode 1

According to the figures shown in table 21 & 22 it can be easily analyzed that

the count of males ranking TV on the 5th position are less as compared to

that of the female strata of the sample size where as greater number of

males have ranked newspaper with the 5th position indicating that men give

more importance to newspaper advertisements than men where as for

females TV is a more significant advertisement medium. Another trend that

can be analyzed is that internet is a medium proffered by males rather then

females because the male count oft internet is greater than the male count.

Table 7 - Count Q3 (Male)


Rank 5 Count 93 Rank 5 Count 27 Rank 5

Count

16

Rank 4 Count 30 Rank 4 Count 52 Rank 4 40

Count


Count

64


Count

25


Count

5

Internet Radio

Rank 5 Count 7 Rank 5 Count 7





Table 8- Count Q3 Female



Count

3


Count

30


Count

65

Rank 2 Count 7 Rank 2 Count 15 Rank 2 29

Count


Count

23

Internet Radio






Question 5 & 6

These two questions were used to analyze hypothesis II which states that

men and women perceive advertisements differently. Question number three

measured the respondents belief on the statement that “if advertisements

give a true picture of the products/services being marketed”. For question 5

the three responses were Yes, No and Maybe and their scores in the data

sheet were 1, 2 and 3 respectively where as the responses for question 6

were extremely, a lot, somewhat, no and not at all while the score given to

them were 1,2,3,4,and 5 respectively.

Question 5

The most reoccurring value for Q5 fro females and males was 2 whose

corresponding response was “No”; which means that majority of the

respondents (male/female) do believe that advertisements do not give a true

picture of the products/services that they market.

Table 9 - Descriptive Statistics Q5 & Q6 (Female)

Q5

Mean 2.1133

33

Median 2

Mode 2

Table 10- Descriptive Statistics Q5 & Q6 (Male)

Q5

Mean 2.2333

33

Median 2

Mode 2

Table 11 - Count Q5 (Female) Table 12 -

Count Q5 (Male)

If we analyze the mode value only then the result deduced would be that

men and women do not perceive advertisements differently but the count

values presented in the tables above make it very clear that a greater

Q5

Count - Yes 38

Count - No 57


Q5

Count - Yes 22

Count - No 77


percentage of men have chosen the response “No” (Male: 77, Female: 57)

and an even lesser number of males have responded “Yes” (Male: 38,

Female: 22); therefore it holds true that men and women do perceive

advertisements differently as the number of individuals opting for

“sometimes” as a response were more or less equal for both the genders.

Question 6

Question 6 determined the extent to which advertisement attracted both the

gender; the responses were extremely, a lot, somewhat, no and never, where

as the scores given to the in the data sheet were 1,2,3,4 and 5 respectively.

According to the mode values calculated in table 11 and 10, it can be stated

that majority of the respondents from both the genders opted for the third

response which as undoubtedly “somewhat”. It clearly indicates the fact that

advertisement does attract the attention of both the genders but to a little

extent.

Table 13 - Descriptive Statistics Q6 (Female)

Table 14 - Descriptive Statistics Q6 (Male)

Q6

Mean 2.5333

33

Median 3

Mode 3

Q6

Count – Extremely 12

Count – A lot 53

Count – Somewhat 80

Count – No 3

Count – Not at all 2

Q6

Mean 2.74

Median 3

Mode 3

Table 15 - Count Q6 (Female)

According to table 13 and 14 the number of females who opted for the

response “A lot” were greater (53) than that of males (28)which indicates

that although the mode was 3 ( response = “Somewhat”) for the entire

sample size, women did show a comparatively positive trend showing that

women are somewhat more attracted to advertisements than men. Therefore

it is not possible or feasible to completely accept or reject the hypothesis (II)

and it can be stated that men and women perceive advertisements

differently to some extent.


Q6

Count – Extremely 16

Count – A lot 28

Count – Somewhat 87

Count – No 17

Count – Not at all 5

Question 7

This particular question analyzes if brand recall creates a feeling inert

enough to lead to purchase; the three response for this question were yes,

no and sometimes and the scores entered into the data entry excel sheet of

these responses were 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Table 17 - Descriptive Statistics Q7 (Female) Table 18 -

Descriptive Statistics Q7 (Male)

Q7

Mean 1.94

Median 2

Mode 1

Q7

Mean 1.94

Median 2

Mode 1

The values in the tables show that the most recurring value for this question

for both the genders was 1; and 1 was the score given to the response “Yes”

in this question therefore, it can be said for the entire sample size that

advertisements do create an inert feeling to try out a product although this

does not imply that this particular feeling is strong enough to lead to

purchase as it is very difficult to measure the intensity of the feeling. Anyhow

the mean value is exactly 1.94 for both the genders because of the fact that

although the most recurring score was 1, there were individuals who had

chosen the responses which had been given the score of 2 and 3 ( No and

Sometimes ) as well.

Table 19 - Count Q7 (Female)


Q7

Count - Yes 74

Count - No 11


Q7

Count - Yes 61

Count - No 37


But if we critically analyze the independent count figures for both genders

than it can be stated that the count for the response “No” was greater by 26

counts which means that although the most recurring score was 1 but a

greater number of males responded that advertisements were not effective

enough o create an inert feeling to purchase a product. Additionally the

count of females for the response “Yes” was also greater than that of the

males and so it can be deduced that females are more prone to being

effected by the advertisements than men.

Question 8

This question basically analyzes the fact that how often the purchase

decision of a buyer is based on advertisement recall; the provided responses

were mostly, often, rarely and never and the scores given were 1, 2, 3 and 4

respectively. The descriptive statistics of the independent scores of both the

genders have been mentioned below:

Table 21 - Male Descriptive statistics (Q8) Table 22 – Female

Descriptive Statistics (Q8)

Q8

Mean 2.7466

67

Median 3

Mode 3

The most recurring value (Mode) is 3 for both the genders and this was the

score given to the response “Rarely” among the total four responses; this

actually means that the majority of the respondents out of the total 300

sample size rarely based their purchase decision on their brand recall.

Additionally the mean value of Q8 for the female respondents was 2.7

whereas that of the male strata was 2.6 approximately, therefore it can

safely be said that both the values are roughly equal for both the major

strata’s and hence brand recall rarely leads to purchase. The difference of

16% between the mean value for both the genders (male: 2.74 and female:

2.58) is because of the fact that females have a greater brand recall capacity

then men as analyzed in question number 9, 10 and 11; it can be assumed

that the greater brand recall capacity of women results in the mean which is

lower than that of the male mean value but it anyhow remains in the range

of 2.5 and 3 referring to the earlier mentioned fact that males and females

rarely based their purchase on brand recall.

Question 9,10,11

Female

Q8

Mean 2.58

Median 3

Mode 3

Q 9 (5/5) Q 10

(10/10)

Q 11 (10/10)

Mean 4.28 Mean 7.0533

33

Mean 7.6066

67

Male

Q 9 (5/5) Q 10

(10/10)

Q 11 (10/10)

Mean 3.2617

45

Mean 5.2550

34

Mean 5.1140

94

Brand recall capacity has been measured directly in question number 9, 10

and 11 where the respondents were asked questions and provided with blank

spaces to note down the answer; the respondents have been given scores

out of 5, 10 and 10 respectively. The individual score of all the respondents

(all the age brackets of both the genders) were calculated for the three

questions individually and then their means have been combined to

calculate a final average score of the entire male and female strata of the

sample size.

According to the descriptive statistics the:

Mean of Q9, Q10, Q11 (Female) = 6.49333 where as the,

Mean of Q9, Q10, Q11 (Male) = 4.54362433

Bo the means clearly indicate that females have a better brand recall, as on

average every female score 6.5 out of 10 in the last three questions;

whereas all the males had an average score of 4.5 out of 10 as the mean for

the same set of questions. If the percentage is calculated then it can be

safely said that the brand recall of women is better by 20% than men. This

figure can be marked valuable for marketers as they can increase the

marketing expenditure targeted at females by the same percentage so that

their campaigns can be more efficient as the brand recall of females is much

better if compared to men; although it has yet to be analyzed if brand recall

leads to purchase as well.

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION &

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on all the findings and analysis, we have come to the following

conclusions:

• Women are easier to target and affect through marketing due to their

higher emotional quotient and TV exposure. It is also more beneficial to

target women as their brand recall was also proved to be better so this

obviously means that they are more prone to spread the product’s

awareness through word of mouth. Due to these reasons, companies

should spend a greater proportion of their marketing budget on

targeting women through adverting campaigns based on emotional,

humorous and celebrity endorsed themes.

• TV and billboards are the most effective mediums for marketing to

consumers belonging to both the genders.

• It is not necessary that brand recall leads to purchase but still

promotion is important and effective in terms of creating awareness

and recall potential in the consumers.

• Women have a more spontaneous buying behavior as compared to

men so point-of-sale advertising can be a point of focus for the

companies.

• Men and women perceive advertisements differently so different

advertising themes are important to target both these genders more

effectively.

Bibliography

Childs .N & J.Maher, 2003, Gender in food advertizing to children, British Food Journal, volume 105 issue 7, p 408-419

Hogg. M & G. Jade, 2003, Gender identity and the consumption of advertizing, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, volume 6 issue 3, p 160 174

Klerk. H & S.Lubbe , 2008, female consumers’ evaluation of apparel quality: exploring the importance of aesthetics, Journal of Fashion Marketing & Management, volume 12 issue 1, p 36- 51

Ndubisi.N, 2006, Effect of gender on customer loyalty: a relationship marketing approach, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, volume 24 issue 1, p 48-61

Stern.B,1988, Media Use and Gender Differences: Retailing Strategies for Bank Marketers, International Journal of Bank Marketing, volume 6 issue 2, p 20-30

Wolin .L& P. Korgaonkar, 2003, Web advertizing gender differences in beliefs, attitudes and behavior, Internet Research, volume 13 issue 5, p 375-385

APPENDICES

STRATA WISE CHARTS ( FINDINGS)

HYPOTHESIZES WISE CHARTS (ANALYSIS)

Hypothesis-I Women have more spontrnous buying habits as compared to men.

Q1 ) Do you plan your shopping: do you make a shopping list?

Q2 ) Do you stick to what you have planned for shopping?

Hypothesis-IIMen and women percieve advertisments differently.

Q3 ) Which advertising medium do you think is most effective? (Rate, 5 being the highest, 1 the lowest)

Q4 ) How would you rate the following advertisement theme? (5 being the highest, 1 the lowest)

Q5 ) Do you think that advertisements give a true picture of products/services being marketed?

Q6 ) To what extent do you think that advertising attracts your attention?

Hypothesis-III Brand recall leads to purchase.

Q7 ) Did an advertisement ever create an inert feeling to try out a product?

Q8 ) How often is your purchase decision based on an advertisement recall?

Hypothesis-IV Women have better brand recall as compared to men.

Q9 ) Which brand comes to your mind from the following colors? (List as many as you remember)

Q10) Fill in the following blanks:

Qno:11) Which advertisement comes to your mind when you think of the following celebrities. (List

as many as you remember)

SURVEY

H-I Women have more spontaneous buying habits as compared to

men.

Q1 ) Do you plan your shopping: do you make a shopping list?

• Yes

• No

• Sometimes

Q2 ) Do you stick to what you have planned for shopping?

• Yes

• No

• Sometimes

H-II Men and women perceive advertisements differently.

Q3 ) Which advertising medium do you think is most effective? (Rate, 5 being

the highest, 1 the lowest)

• TV ________

• Billboard ________

• News paper ________

• Internet ________

• Radio ________

Q4 ) How would you rate the following advertisement theme? (5 being the

highest, 1 the lowest)

• Humorous ________

• Informative ________

• Adventurous ________

• Emotional ________

• Celebrity endorsed ________

Q5 ) Do you think that advertisements give a true picture of

products/services being marketed?

• Yes

• No

• May be

Q6 ) To what extent do you think that advertising attracts your attention?

• Extremely

• A lot

• Somewhat

• No

• Not at all

H-III(a) Brand recall leads to purchase.

Q7 ) Did an advertisement ever create an inert feeling to try out a product?

• Yes

• No

• Sometimes

H-III(b) Brand recall

Q8 ) How often is your purchase decision based on an advertisement recall?

• Mostly

• Often

• Rarely

• Never

Q9 ) Which brand comes to your mind from the following colors? (List as

many as you remember)

• Yellow ____________________________________________

• Blue ____________________________________________

• Red ____________________________________________

• Indigo ____________________________________________

• Green ____________________________________________

Q10) Fill in the following blanks:

Brands Tag Lines

• _____________________ Gaarha jo hai

• _____________________ itna khalis jitna pyar

• _____________________ Piyo aur jiyo

• _____________________ Connecting people

• __________________ ___ ab sab keh dou

• _____________________ thand hai tou kia hua

• _____________________ Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

• _____________________ Do the Dew

• _____________________ the smart call

• _____________________ Hits hard

Qno:11) Which advertisement comes to your mind when you think of the

following celebrities. (List as many as you remember)

• Reema ________________________________

• Amna Haq ________________________________

• Ali Zafar ________________________________

• Shaan ________________________________

• Atif Aslam ________________________________

• Iman Ali ________________________________

• Ali Azmat ________________________________

• Reesham ________________________________

• Mahnoor Baloch ________________________________

• Shahid Afridi ________________________________

Impact of Ads on Male vs Female Consumer Buying Behaviour

Documents