The Impact and Mechanism of Femvertising on Male Consumers’ Gift Purchasing Intention

Femvertising is increasingly being used by brands to showcase their values and attract consumers, especially in the fashion industry. Previous studies mainly focused on its impact on female consumers, while the perceptions and responses of male consumers are usually ignored. Focusing on the context of men purchasing women’s clothing as gifts, this study explored the impact of femvertising on male consumers’ gift purchasing intention, and examined the mediating role of perceived female empowerment and the moderating role of gift recipients. A situational experiment was conducted to acquire data, and hypotheses were tested with regression analysis and bootstrapping method. The results demonstrated that the overall effect of femvertising on male consumers’ gift purchasing intention is not significant, but there is a significant and positive mediating effect of perceived female empowerment in it, and the mediating effect is stronger for a communal relationship (versus exchange relationship).