Gender Social Media Marketing: the Female Dimension in China

Abstract

With the rise of women's voices and changing consumer attitudes in the new digital era, gender social media marketing is becoming a problem area for researcher, and the features of gender marketing is constantly being questioned. The aim of the study is to reveal the presence of gender marketing in Chinese social media in three aspects: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral, and determine the gender marketing in the current context by means of a questionnaire survey (N = 142, 2022). The results show that Chinese women are relatively supportive of gender marketing. Gender social media marketing based on correctly capturing women's emotional appeal usually further triggers positive emotional resonance among women, which in turn can have a positive effect on promoting consumer behavior. This study argues that the impact of gender marketing on Chinese audiences at the cognitive level is reflected in their attention to marketing activities; at the affective level, it is reflected in their attitudes and empathy towards marketing content; and at the behavioral level, it is the behaviors of searching, purchasing, or disseminating relevant content. The study demonstrates that gender marketing on Chinese social media generates interest and positive emotional resonance among female consumers, thereby contributing to their purchase decisions.