Women are more likely to buy unknown brands than men: The effects of gender and known versus unknown brands on purchase intentions

Two experimental studies were run to investigate whether, how and why women would respond differently than men to unknown (unfamiliar, new) brands. Female respondents were found to develop higher purchase intentions than males when exposed to unfamiliar brands, and these effects were replicated across four product categories and stimuli. The mechanisms which explain these effects were also tested (i.e., women were observed to place more trust in unknown brands than men). This paper contributes to the current literature and practice by providing insights about women as customers: they are more trustful towards new offerings and more likely to buy unknown brands than men.