Although previous studies have provided some exploratory evidence of the gender-taste association, empirical evidence on the causal relationships and downstream consequences of such an association in the consumer behavior domain is still lacking. To address this gap, the present research empirically documents the association between gender and taste, and explores the spillover effect of brand gender on consumer preference for sweet food. Across four studies, we demonstrate that feminine and sweet are cognitively associated (Study 1), and accordingly, products launched by a feminine brand are perceived to be sweeter than those launched by a masculine brand (Study 2). Furthermore, a feminine (vs. masculine) brand leads to a higher preference for its sweet (vs. unsweet) products, which is mediated by the perceived congruence between brand gender and product taste (Study 3). Finally, we identify brand type as a moderator, showing that the congruence effect between brand gender and product taste holds for traditional brands but is attenuated for innovative brands (Study 4). Our findings advance the understanding of brand gender association and its impact on consumer behavior and offer meaningful implications for market positioning and communication.

中文翻译：

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品牌性别如何影响消费者对甜食的偏好：性别与口味之间关联的作用

尽管之前的研究提供了一些性别品味关联的探索性证据，但在消费者行为领域仍然缺乏这种关联的因果关系和下游后果的经验证据。为了解决这一差距，本研究实证记录了性别与口味之间的关联，并探讨了品牌性别对消费者对甜食偏好的溢出效应。通过四项研究，我们证明女性化和甜味在认知上是相关的（研究 1），因此，女性品牌推出的产品被认为比男性品牌推出的产品更甜（研究 2）。此外，女性化（相对于男性化）品牌会导致人们对其甜味（相对于不甜化）产品有更高的偏好，这是由品牌性别和产品口味之间感知的一致性来调节的（研究 3）。最后，我们将品牌类型确定为调节因素，表明品牌性别和产品品味之间的一致性效应对于传统品牌成立，但对于创新品牌则减弱（研究 4）。我们的研究结果增进了对品牌性别关联及其对消费者行为影响的理解，并为市场定位和传播提供了有意义的影响。