Systematic review of gender differences and similarities in online consumers’ shopping behavior

Purpose This study aims to systematically examine gender specific behavioral differences and similarities in online shopping consumers, underlying theories for such differences and similarities and moderating and mediating roles of gender in studying the effects of online marketing strategies. This synthesis explores gender differences and similarities from a wide range of online settings, including readiness for adoption of new technology, willingness to make online payments, trust in online vendors, perception and behavior toward online business websites and perceived online service quality. Design/methodology/approach A systematic approach was adopted to derive and then analyze the existing literature. The authors accessed relevant literature from three electronic databases. After a thorough screening process and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the study shortlisted 61 academic articles from an initial pool of 187 papers. Findings The findings reveal more differences than similarities between men and women as online consumers. Men generally have more favorable attitudes toward e-tailers (electronic retailing), online purchase/re-purchase and e-payments than women do. Social influences positively affect the online purchase intentions of men and women, but they have a more substantial effect on women. Privacy concerns negatively affect the online trust of men and women, but they also manifest a more significant influence on women. Practical implications Findings of review guide practitioners in formulating effective positioning and communication strategies that enable them to appeal to gender-specific consumer segments in multiple products and business contexts. It offers guidelines to online businesses for developing e-business platforms (websites) that persuade the target audience across gender groups, based on consumer browsing and web navigation preferences. Originality/value This review fulfills the need for a systematic synthesis of empirical research vis-à-vis online consumer behavior studies to find gender-specific perceptions, attitudes and behaviors.

Sources of Mattering for Women and Men: Gender Differences and Similarities in Feelings of Social Significance

Social mattering refers to an individual’s perceived sense of significance in the world and is a key aspect of overall mental health. Using data from a representative survey of adult Americans, we test the extent to which societal-level status, community engagement, group memberships, and interpersonal attachments affect men’s and women’s sense of mattering. We find that women gain social significance to the extent that they feel attached to others interpersonally, in terms of romantic relationships, parenthood, friendships, and closeness to family. Men’s sense of mattering is significantly influenced by broader social factors, like their strength of attachment to the Republican Party, their social media use, and their ability to donate money to the community. These differences suggests that gender norms lead men to also seek significance from the broader community and through group memberships while women rely mainly on their close social ties to feel like they matter.

Do Intervention Studies to Promote Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behavior in Children and Adolescents Take Sex/Gender Into Account? A Systematic Review

Background: Physical inactivity is often reported in youth and differs among boys and girls. The aim of this study is to assess sex/gender considerations in intervention studies promoting physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in youth using a sex/gender checklist. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in August 2018 to identify all relevant controlled trials. Studies screened must have reported a quantified measure of physical activity and/or sedentary behavior, and identified participants by sex/gender at baseline. For evaluation of the sex/gender consideration, the authors used a sex/gender checklist developed by expert consensus. Results: The authors reviewed sex/gender considerations in all aspects of intervention development, implementation, and evaluation in 217 studies. Sex/gender aspects were only rudimentarily taken into account, most frequently during statistical analyses, such as stratification or interaction analysis. Conclusions: Sex/gender effects are not sufficiently reported. To develop guidelines that are more inclusive of all girls and boys, future interventions need to document sex/gender differences and similarities, and explore whether sex/gender influences different phases of intervention programs. The newly developed sex/gender checklist can hereby be used as a tool and guidance to adequately consider sex/gender in the several steps of intervention planning, implementation, and evaluation.

The Social Psychology of Sex and Gender

Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, gender became an important topic in U.S. social psychology, raising questions about the conceptual relationship between “sex” and “gender.” A second-wave feminist project to describe differences between women and men as previously exaggerated and currently changeable was aligned with social psychology’s emphasis on the distorting power of stereotypes and the strong influence of immediate situations on human behavior. Feminism and social psychology both suggested psychology could foment social transformation, and the authors and participants of psychological research have undoubtedly become far less “womanless” in the past half-century. By the late 1980s several incommensurate social psychologies of gender existed, creating debates about the meaning of emphasizing gender differences and similarities and the gendered social psychology of psychological science itself. However, psychology remained largely a “white space” in the 1970s and 1980s, which were also “difficult decades” in transgender history. The increasing recognition of intersectional feminism and trans-affirmative perspectives in the 2010s set the context for regarding this history from different contemporary standpoints.

Sex considerations in acute coronary syndromes

It is a very important issue to enlighten on gender differences and similarities regarding the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes. It is a fact that women have not been included in clinical trials in numbers equal to men, for whatever reason. In the future, it will be necessary to individualize, as much as possible, the management of patients, regardless of gender. To get there, it is necessary to have sufficient numbers of patients from both genders included in trials, or otherwise it is not possible to draw proper conclusions. Until now, most results regarding women and acute coronary syndromes have been based on substudy analyses with inadequate statistical power. If gender differences have become evident in studies with gender-mixed populations, it seems obvious that the calculated power to show significant differences is also inadequate for men. There is an urgent need of more research in this area, in order not to harm our patients with our treatment because of a paucity of knowledge. It is also as important not to withdraw proper treatment from certain individuals when they can benefit from it.

La enseñanza de STEM en Educación Primaria desde una perspectiva de género.

The aim of this study is to identify the needs of 141 students and 67 teachers from seven Primary Education schools in relation to STEM teaching, detecting possible gender differences and similarities. This objective is part of the european CREATEskills project. On the basis of an exploratory and non-experimental research design, two validated questionnaires were used through a dual procedure (expert judgment and pilot study). The results indicate that teachers demand additional resources and training for STEM teaching, while students prefer to use digital resources and conduct experimental work. In relation to gender differences, female teachers adopted a more critical view of STEM teaching in comparison to male teachers, but no significant gender differences were identified among students.

Correlates of Fear of Victimization Among College Students in Spain: Gender Differences and Similarities

Past studies that have analyzed fear of victimization using samples composed of men and women have most frequently controlled for the effect of gender. This study not only controls for the effect of gender, but also examines how the predictors of fear of victimization may vary across gender. To do so, separate regression models for men and women were estimated and the corresponding z tests were calculated for the purpose of analyzing whether the differences between genders were significant. The results showed that women scored higher on the general fear of crime victimization scale, as well as for fear of becoming victims of each of the specific crimes under study. Religiosity had an equally significant effect on men and women’s fear of victimization. Also, younger participants were more likely to fear being victims in the cases of both men and women, although this effect was even more pronounced among women. In addition, respondents’ fear of victimization differed across gender based on sexual orientation. Finally, the results showed a few variables (political orientation and sexual victimization) that were only significant in the case of women, but not of men. The findings of this study confirm that fear of victimization and its predictors vary between women and men.