Men resist men: streamer-consumer gender match for advertising the functional benefits of heterogeneously priced utilitarian products

The study investigates how streamer-consumer gender match influences the conversion of functional benefits into advertising effectiveness for utilitarian products in live-streaming commerce (RQ1), and how this mechanism varies across heterogeneous price signals (RQ2). Live-streaming commerce heightens the role of streamer-consumer interactions. Prior work has focused largely on hedonic products and gender-based perceived similarity. In utilitarian contexts (e.g., smartphones), functional benefits are central to value perception, necessitating an examination of gender as a moderator of the link between functional information and purchase intention. Price dispersion within utilitarian categories can signal differing product properties (low-, middle-, high-price), potentially shifting consumers’ elaboration likelihood and the route of persuasion. The paper develops hypotheses using the elaboration likelihood model and price signaling theory, then tests them with smartphone sales on Douyin Live Shopping to inform both theory and practice.

Prior research on live-streaming emphasizes authenticity, visualization, and interactivity shaping purchase intentions. Studies in hedonic categories show gender-based similarity between streamers and consumers enhances persuasion, often via hedonic cues and perceived warmth/competence. In utilitarian categories, functional benefits dominate value assessments, and gender cues may affect the credibility and attractiveness of functional information differently. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) posits central vs. peripheral routes depending on elaboration likelihood, driven by motivation and ability. In live-streaming of utilitarian products, cognitive ability is typically adequate; motivation varies with signals like price. Price signaling theory suggests prices convey quality and class; high prices may imply luxury attributes, low prices may imply inferior goods, and middle prices reflect normal utilitarian items. These signals can modulate consumers’ motivation to process detailed arguments, thus determining whether central or peripheral routes dominate and how gender cues function as heuristics or as modifiers of functional-information processing.

Data: 28-day panel from Douyin Live Shopping (Sept 13–Oct 10, 2021) covering 685 smartphones advertised by 129 professional streamers; after exclusions, 10,994 observations. The category is suitable due to transparent prices and standardizable performance benchmarks; time window avoids major promotions. Variables: Dependent variable is advertising effectiveness measured by watch-to-click conversion rate (CVR). Main independent variable is functional benefit performance measured objectively as cost-performance ratio (CPR): 3DMark Wild Life benchmark divided by price. Moderators: streamer gender (female=0, male=1) and the proportion of male followers of the streamer (consumer gender). Grouping by price signals: low ([0,1000), [1000,2000)), middle ([2000,3000), [3000,4000)), high ([4000,5000), [5000,20000)). Econometric model: Fixed-effects panel regressions within each price-based subsample controlling for product, date, streamer, and brand fixed effects; standard errors clustered at show level. Model includes CPR, CPR×StreamerGender, CPR×ConsumerGender, CPR×StreamerGender×ConsumerGender to capture main and moderating effects. Robustness/Identification: - SUR to test for systematic differences across price groups and to address potential inverse causality (jointly estimating CPR on CVR). - Propensity score matching using streamer-specific covariates (age distribution of audience, city tiers, typical purchase price bands) to balance streamer attributes other than gender; post-PSM regressions re-estimated. - Wald tests validate price-signal grouping differences. Theoretical framing: ELM combined with price signaling to justify that middle-price items invoke central-route processing of functional info, while high/low price items invoke peripheral-route processing, reducing the role of functional benefits.

• For middle-price utilitarian products, functional benefit performance (CPR) positively affects advertising effectiveness (CVR), supporting H1. Example estimates: β1≈2.332 (p<0.05) for 3000–4000 yuan; evidence consistent though mixed across 2000–3000 yuan. - Streamer gender moderates this effect for middle-price products: male streamers leverage functional (CPR) information more effectively than female streamers, supporting H2. Example interactions: β2≈21.145 (p<0.05) for 2000–3000 yuan; β2≈129.8 (p<0.01) for 3000–4000 yuan. - Streamer-consumer gender match shows that as the proportion of male consumers increases, the male-streamer advantage diminishes (men resist men), supporting H3b and not H3a. Example triple interaction: β4≈−0.307 (p<0.01) across the middle-price range. - For high-price and low-price utilitarian products, functional benefit performance has little to no significant effect on advertising effectiveness, and gender-related moderations are insignificant, supporting H4 and H5. - Robustness checks (SUR for inverse causality, PSM matched streamer sample, Wald tests of price-group specification) confirm the main results and that effects are tied to gender attributes rather than other streamer-specific covariates. - Overall insight: gender match primarily contributes hedonic cues (e.g., sex appeal) rather than amplifying the credibility/value of utilitarian information in live-stream advertising of utilitarian products.

The findings address RQ1 by showing that streamer gender affects how functional benefits translate into advertising effectiveness only when consumers are likely to process information via the central route (middle-price products). Male streamers better convert functional information into clicks, but this advantage erodes as the audience skews male, suggesting hedonic considerations drive resistance to same-gender persuasion. RQ2 is addressed by demonstrating price-signal contingency: at high or low prices, peripheral cues dominate and functional benefits carry limited weight; consequently, streamer gender does not significantly moderate the CPR→CVR link. These results refine understanding of gender match in live-streaming: it adds hedonic value rather than altering the credibility of utilitarian information, and underscore the importance of within-category heterogeneity when generalizing findings across utilitarian product classes.

This study integrates ELM and price signaling to show that for normal (middle-price) utilitarian products in live-streaming commerce, functional benefit performance increases advertising effectiveness and this conversion is stronger with male streamers, though attenuated as the audience’s male proportion rises. For low- and high-price products, functional benefits matter little to advertising effectiveness and gender interactions are negligible. Contributions include clarifying that gender match mainly appends hedonic cues rather than amplifying utilitarian information, and highlighting within-category heterogeneity by price signals. Future research should: - Decompose functional benefits into dimensions to examine their distinct roles. - Analyze the independent influence of gender identities and clarify which specific gender cues (e.g., masculinity/femininity, attractiveness) drive effects. - Explore other within-category heterogeneities beyond price (e.g., brand prestige, feature sets) and their interactions with live-stream formats and audience composition.

• Functional benefit performance is operationalized as a synthesized cost-performance ratio based on 3DMark Wild Life; individual functional dimensions and their interactions are not separately modeled. - The study focuses on gender effects as moderators of functional-information conversion and omits analyzing the standalone influence of gender identities on purchase intention. - The exact gender identity components responsible for the observed effects are not isolated (e.g., sex appeal vs. perceived competence). - Heterogeneity is examined via price signals; other within-category heterogeneities may also shape persuasion. - Data are from a specific platform (Douyin) and timeframe, which may affect generalizability across platforms, cultures, or product types.