Brand gender has been suggested as a relevant source of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). The purpose of this paper is to deepen understanding of the relationship between brand gender and CBBE by analyzing the mediating role of consumer–brand engagement (CBE) and brand love (BL) on this relationship. This research was conducted on Facebook, the dominant global social media platform. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results support 6 of the 9 hypotheses, with a significant relationship between analyzed constructs. This study advances prior work by showing that brand gender has an indirect and relevant impact on CBBE through BL and CBE. Therefore, this research confirms the advantages of clear gender positioning and extends prior research by suggesting that brands with a strong gender identity will encourage BL and CBE.

Introduction

Since Grohmann’s (2009) seminal work on brand gender, a growing stream of research on this topic has been developed. Brand gender refers to the individual personality traits associated with masculinity and femininity that are both applicable and relevant for brands, and comprises two independent and universal dimensions, masculine brand personality traits (MBP) and feminine brand personality traits (FBP) (Grohmann, 2009). In recent years, the relevance of brand gender for the success of a brand has been well documented in the branding literature. Research has shown that the positioning of a brand as either masculine or feminine can lead to critical consumer–brand-related responses (Azar, Aimé, & Ulrich, 2018; Grohmann, 2009; Lieven, Grohmann, Herrmann, Landwehr, & Tilburg, 2015; Ulrich, 2013; van Tilburg, Lieven, Herrmann, & Townsend, 2015), and ultimately influence consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) (Lieven, Grohmann, Herrmann, Landwehr, & van Tilburg, 2014; Lieven & Hildebrand, 2016). Although previous research has examined the main effects of brand gender on CBBE, showing that highly masculine and highly feminine brands generate greater CBBE, evidence on the underlying sources of this relationship is still scarce. The main aim of this study is to deepen understanding of the relationship between MBP, FBP and CBBE by analyzing the underlying mechanisms that account for the effects of MBP and FBP. Further, this study seeks to investigate the relationship between the two brand gender personality traits (i.e., MBP and FBP dimensions) and CBBE in the specific context of Facebook. This is particularly relevant since Facebook pages have become critical channels in brands’ marketing efforts (Brodie, Ilic, Biljana, & Hollebeek, 2013; Simon & Tossan, 2018). Indeed, firms are devoting an increasing portion of their marketing budgets to social media, and this investment should continue to grow (CMOsurvey.org, 2017). Facebook is the dominant global social media platform in terms of both number of active users (Statista, 2018a) and marketing investment; 84% of Fortune 500 companies have a Facebook brand page, with many having over one million fans (Statista, 2018b). Moreover, the link between brand gender personality traits and consumer responses to the brand on Facebook has not yet been empirically tested.