Does the gender of the producer matter for the valuation of consumer goods? Evidence from an experimental wine auction

Gender stereotypes may affect market transactions. We use a laboratory experimental fifth-price Vickrey auction to analyze the effect of the producer’s gender on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for wine, along with a response to the perceived warmth and competence of the producer. The within-subject design includes three rounds for one male and one female producer. Round 1 includes their name and picture, round 2 adds their professional background, and round 3 includes a tasting. Using two models, we regress WTP against the producer’s gender and then against its interaction with perceived warmth and competence. Our main results suggest that while consumers’ WTP is not sensitive to the gender of the producer, perceived warmth and competence correlate differently with WTP for each producer, with a stronger influence of competence for the female and a stronger effect of warmth for the male.