Abstract:
The nature of decision making and branding for marketing has
been changed among consumers based on the different sex roles in
the society. Today sex roles have become a considerable factor to
make a purchase decision of male and female counterparts in the
market. Purchase decisions are influenced by sex roles. Gender
contamination occurs when one gender is using a brand as a
symbol of their masculinity or femininity, and the incursion of the
other gender into the brand threatens that. However, the effect of
sex role on gender bending is still not known. This proposes to
study whether this phenomenon is prevalent in Sri Lanka and it
has any effect on the major apparel brands. Initially exploratory
research design was used, as the problem of gender contamination
had to be explored in order to understand the existing scenario
followed by descriptive research design. The Sample was decided
as large number of responses had to be collected. Shopping Malls
were considered as a place where the questionnaires could be
circulated, as it would be convenient to obtain responses from a
particularly large number of people. Consumers who have a high
score in Brand Gender Identity Quotient (BGIQ) usually shows a
resistance towards the gender bending of apparel brands and
these group of consumer’s rethink while purchasing for apparel
brands the next time. Further, male respondents showed greater
resistance towards the gender bending of apparel brands than that
of female respondents. Further it was found that significant
relationships between the gender and their likeliness of usage of
the gender bended brands and a relationship between the gender
and the purchase style of the gender specific brands when
extended to opposite gender. The phenomenon of gender
contamination has been explored and found to exist in different
parts of the world but no such study has been done in Sri Lanka
