TRSM Research Seminar by Dr. Eugene Chan

Title: Gender on the Line: Women CEOs and Brand Crises

Description: Many executive positions today are held by women. Generally, research has shown that having a woman as a CEO brings the company many benefits, such as greater brand trust and brand loyalty among consumers. Having a woman CEO also increases expectations of social responsibility. This research builds on this latter finding and proposes a possible "downside" to having a woman CEO. Across several experimental studies, I find that after a moral crisis (e.g., company caught using child labour), companies with women CEOs are rated more negatively by consumers than those with men CEOs. I propose that perceptions of corporate hypocrisy can explain this effect. The difference in negative brand evaluations does not apply after a product-harm crisis (e.g., defective materials), where both companies with women and men CEOs are rated equally negatively.

Bio: I am an Associate Professor in the Marketing Management department at TRSM. I received my PhD from Toronto, and have previously taught and conducted research in Sydney, Melbourne, and Indiana. My research draws on theories from social and cognitive psychology to explain consumer decision-making, and I use experimental and survey methods to test my hypotheses.