Art and Gender

Men and women view art differently. So says a new study

Could there be some truth to the old stereotype that art is a ‘girl thing’. That women love and appreciate art, whereas men just don’t get the appeal and have to be dragged to exhibitions and museums. According to a new study, there just might be some truth to this old stereotype.

A total of 518 men and women participated in a study that appeared in Psychology and Marketing. The researchers got the participants to judge two unfamiliar paintings and to read a fictitious biography of the artist. Some were made to read a biography that characterised the artist as ‘authentic’, which meant the artist was experienced and his work unique, while others read one that claimed the artist was ‘ordinary’ and had taken up the craft recently.

When the participants were asked for their opinions on the artist and the artwork and whether they would purchase such artworks, both men and women had a more favourable impression of the artist and the work when the biography described the artist as authentic. What appeared as a differentiating factor was the issue of art investment. Unlike the women who went through a complicated process of evaluating the artwork, the men based their decision completely on what the biography said of the artist’s merits.

The authors write in the journal, ‘Despite the fact that the art market is a multibillion dollar industry, marketing researchers have yet to fully explore the factors that drive consumers’ purchase intentions toward fine art… Attitude toward the artwork had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for women compared to men, whereas attitude toward the artist had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for men compared to women.

Overall, the results reveal that consumers use information about that artist’s brand in the valuation of the artwork and have important practical implications for the management of the artist’s human brand.’ In a press release, the lead author of the study, Stephanie Mangus, claims the findings are consistent with past research that shows men use factors that are known to them when making decisions. She says, “Women are more willing to go through a complicated process of actually evaluating the artwork… whereas men may say, ‘This guy’s a great artist, so I’ll buy his art’.”

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