Services branding: is it a matter of gender?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to verify whether gender traits of brand personality (masculinity vs femininity) are able to differentiate services brands belonging to the same service industry. Second, this paper intends to assess the validity of Grohmann's scale (that measures the masculine and the feminine dimensions of brand personality) among Italian consumers. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 200 consumers. Participants were asked to rate their perceptions of the masculinity vs femininity dimensions of four different service brands (two brands of food retailers and two brands of airlines). Findings - The findings show that Grohmann's scale reaches high levels of validity in the Italian context, as well and that femininity and masculinity measured by that scale are able to register differences in services brand positioning for brands belonging to the same service industry. Research limitations/implications - The services category includes very heterogeneous services with different degrees of interaction and consumer's involvement. Further studies are needed to isolate the impact of the perceived MBP and FBP associated either with the service industry/category or with the specific brand. Practical implications - Marketing managers can actively try to influence consumer's perceptions of FBP and MBP through the brand logo colors, brands slogans, masculine or feminine spokespeople, etc. to obtain their desired positioning. Originality/value - The paper is the first to specifically study brand personality's gender dimensions within services environments. The paper also supports the validity of Grohmann's scale outside the German context.