Analysis of gender differences in the perception of properties: An application for differential semantics
Abstract: This paper presents
the application of differential semantics to identify the semantic space
(structure) used by men and women to describe their perception of properties on
sale. 112 men and 43 women evaluated 112 images of flats on sale at the time of
the study in the city of Valencia (Spain) using 60 adjectives. The set of
attributes or variables which capture the user’s perception of a property in
his own words (semantic axes) was identified using factor analysis of principal
components. The semantic space of a property was described by 15 independent
axes which explained 64% of the variability for males and 17 axes which
explained 72.3% of the variance for females. The connection between the
subject’s emotional response, expressed through the set of axes (15 for males
and 17 for females) and the global evaluation in terms of the purchase decision
was established. The results demonstrated significant differences in the
variables used by both genders to express their perception of a property on
sale and the weight of these variables on the purchase decision.
Author: Carmen Llinares,
Alvaro Page
Journal Code: jptindustrigg090012
