Sustainability and gender

: are sustainable brands inclusive of men?

Abstract

Environmental sustainability has long been on the top of mind of consumers and brands. Besides creating a safer planet and ensuring a cleaner environment, sustainable practices have become an asset for marketers and advertisers across the globe to develop higher brand equity and to compete for the attention of the most sustainable customers. However, most of the sustainable fashion and apparel brands are both owned by women and marketed to the female population. The literature has tried to gain knowledge on the exclusion of men through the consideration of personality and core socialization differences between the genders. New studies have arisen proposing new perspectives, namely a general association of sustainability and femininity. This study explores that association and indicates that sustainability may, indeed, affect consumers’ perceptions of masculine brands which embark on the sustainability train. This research also investigates how sustainability practices impact consumer-brand gender congruence and, thereby, attitude and behavior towards the brand.

Date of Award	14 Oct 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Joana Machado (Supervisor)