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Gender Bias in Perceived Quality. An Experiment with Elite Soccer Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos Gomez-Gonzalez

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich)

  • Helmut Dietl

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich)

  • David Berri

    (Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA)

  • Cornel Nesseler

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich)

Abstract

Whether one looks at revenue, investment, or coverage, men’s sports do better than women’s. Many assume that the differences are driven by absolute differences in quality of athletic performance. However, the existence of stereotypes should alert us to another possibility: What if perceived quality is filtered through gender stereotypes? We perform an experiment showing participants video clips of elite female and male soccer players. In the control group, participants evaluated normal videos where the gender of the players was clear to see. In the treatment group, participants evaluated the same videos but with gender obscured by blurring. We find that participants only rated men’s videos higher when they knew they were watching men. When they didn’t know who they were watching, ratings for female and male athletes did not differ significantly. The findings are consistent with the interpretation that gender bias plays a role in the evaluation of athletic performance. Implications for research and the sports industry are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Gomez-Gonzalez & Helmut Dietl & David Berri & Cornel Nesseler, 2022. "Gender Bias in Perceived Quality. An Experiment with Elite Soccer Performance," Working Papers 391, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    • Handle: RePEc:zrh:wpaper:391
    as

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    File URL: http://repec.business.uzh.ch/RePEc/zrh/wpaper/391_IBW_full.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Debanjan Mitra & Peter N. Golder, 2006. "How Does Objective Quality Affect Perceived Quality? Short-Term Effects, Long-Term Effects, and Asymmetries," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 230-247, 05-06.
    3. Jaume García & Plácido Rodríguez, 2002. "The Determinants of Football Match Attendance Revisited," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(1), pages 18-38, February.
    4. Cecilia Rouse & Claudia Goldin, 2000. "Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 715-741, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    experiment; evaluation; gender bias; fans; soccer; women’s sport;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General

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