Can Physiological Factors Influence Consumer Preferences Across Countries? An Exploration of Brand Market Shares and Male Organ Sizes

This article extends the literature on cross-country cultural influences on consumer behavior by exploring the influence that physiological and biological factors may have on consumer preferences across countries. As the specific case studied, the authors explore the relationship between average male penile length in a country and consumer preference for prestige brands in the country. Data from two product categories, cars and smartphones, indicate a negative correlation between penile length and consumer preference for more prestigious brands across countries. This relationship is found to be mediated by perceived sexual adequacy and self-esteem levels in countries, suggesting that male consumers in countries with smaller organs may symbolically compensate a lack of sexual adequacy by buying more prestigious brands, and that lower self-confidence related to smaller organs is also reflected in preference for more prestigious, lower-risk brands. The authors theorize several causal mechanisms explaining the correlation. The mechanisms involve physiological–psychological co-drivers (e.g., the interplay between perceived sexual adequacy, self-esteem, and organ size) as well as underlying biological factors (e.g., testosterone).