Challenging the Venus and Mars theory

“Do males and females react differently to emotional advertising?” begin the authors of an article in the March 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. While it is commonly accepted that women are more emotional, no solid evidence exists to support this assertion. In fact, the results of the study conducted by Robert Fisher (University of Western Ontario) and Laurette Dub� (McGill University) indicate that when it comes to feeling emotion, men might be just as sensitive as females.

“Stereotypically, females are thought to be more ‘emotional’ than males, and so conventional wisdom would suggest that females have more extreme responses to advertising with emotional content,” write Fisher and Dub�. “Previous research has not studied how the social desirability of emotions affects responses when ads are viewed in the presence of others.”

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Mar 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.