Engagement With Brand Posts on International Women's Day: An Empirical Analysis of Differences in Gender and Authenticity

Despite the rising interest shown in feminist issues in the last decade, brand management research has focused less on feminism than on other social causes. This study analyses the participation of the 100 most valuable brands on Twitter/X in International Women's Day (IWD) from 2014 to 2023. Grounded in theories of social identification, brand gender congruence, and authenticity, we hypothesise variations in brand engagement based on consumer gender, brand type, and message type. Panel data analysis revealed that women engage more actively than men in terms of likes, retweets, and comments, particularly with brands that target them. Contrary to expectations, “authentic” posts received fewer likes and retweets than did “non-authentic”, suggesting that IWD is perceived more as a moment to celebrate and share than a time to discuss real actions or commitment to feminist causes. These findings highlight the need to consider additional factors to understand brand engagement with feminist causes.