Gender differences in determinants of customer satisfaction in beauty and cosmetic e-commerce

Abstract

This study investigates the gender differences in determinants of customers' satisfaction when purchasing online beauty and cosmetics products in Vietnamese market. To do so, we construct a data set via online survey of 419 Vietnamese customers including both males and females, and examine such sample using t-tests and multiple regressions. Our regression model is constructed based on our five-construct model including online shopping experience, customer service, external incentives, security and privacy, and personal characteristics. The t-tests results reveal that the mean difference of customer satisfaction (negative coefficient) between the two groups of customers (females and males) is statistically significant. This suggests that the purchasing satisfaction of male customers is significantly higher than that of their female counterparts. Similarly, we also find that male customers are more satisfied with their online shopping experience, customer service and external incentives offered by the online sellers than female peers. Furthermore, regression results for full sample show that, on average, the online shopping experience, customer service and external incentives are significantly and positively related to customer satisfaction. Yet, such positive effect of customer service on customer satisfaction is more likely for males while females' satisfaction is more positively influenced by security and privacy.