Sounds too Feminine? Brand Gender and The Impact on Professional Critics

Prior studies have shown that brand names representing high femininity will receive higher ratings and more positive reviews than those associated with high masculinity. The research is based on the idea that consumers may perceive feminine brand names as more desirable, with a positive bias toward them, leading to higher ratings and additional positive reviews. Nevertheless, the effect of gendered language on critics of experience goods has received relatively little research. This study examines how specifically masculine or feminine brand names classify experience goods and impacts tastings and professional evaluations. We obtained data on 18,609 wines and their ratings from the Wine Enthusiast Magazine between 1997 and 2016, yielding a sample of 31,058 observations to objectively evaluate the impact of brand gender on quality ratings measured by experts' critics. Moreover, we suppose that the gender of the taster needs to be considered to understand what affects tastings and ratings, as women and men might be attracted differently to masculine or feminine names. This study shows that masculine brand names receive higher evaluations than feminine ones. In addition, we discover that women tend to rank products with higher gender name scores more highly than men. Finally, this study provides evidence that people's unconscious perceptions and quality assessments of products can be significantly impacted by (brand) gender bias.