The Effect of Gender Differences on the Choice of Banking Services

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual framework based on the evolutionary theory to explain gender differences when considering the saliency of various attributes in choosing a banking service. Unlike most studies that examined the importance of these attributes by asking respondents to rate them, we assessed the saliency of the attributes indirectly in a choice task among five real banks, hence examined the gender differences in a realistic choices process. Results from both studies supported hypotheses based on evolutionary theory in that functional considerations such as cost were more important for men than for women, while other service characteristics were salient for both genders. Implications for marketing strategies that target men and women differently are discussed.