Bummed about Broncos? After Boise State football loss, ‘masculine’ drink sales spike

Loyal fans fill the stands on game night to cheer for the Boise State football team, but a loss for the Broncos could have the crowds reaching for a manly drink.

A Boise State University study found that when the college football team played a home game and lost, purchases of masculine-looking alcohol brands in Ada County went up.

The trend also expanded beyond football. Feelings of failure were found to be closely tied to a consumer preference toward masculinity — and the reason comes down to how we associate men with aggression, the researchers said.

“When we feel incompetent, or we feel we’ve not achieved our goal, we reach for those symbols of toughness,” Niusha Jones, a marketing professor at Boise State and the study’s lead, told the Idaho Statesman.

On game days, the study used data from the Idaho State Liquor Division to track the purchases of 145 popular alcohol brands and their associations with masculinity.

Grand Marnier, for example, appeared masculine because of its dark coloring and bold lettering, while people associated SKYY Vodka, with its slim design and vibrant colors, more with femininity. Researchers pre-tested consumers’ perceptions of whether products appeared masculine or feminine to designate scores on gender associations for each of those products.

On days when the team lost, masculine-branded alcohol purchases went up, regardless of proof or price. Jones said Boise residents are “really” connected to their football team and can take the loss personally, causing them to seek a symbol of masculinity.

But some were skeptical of the researchers’ conclusions.

Kristen Barber, a professor in gender studies at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, said “the idea that masculinity is connected to aggression is more of a social expectation than a biological inevitability,” as the Boise State researchers had suggested. Barber also said it’s a “bit of a stretch” to claim the team loss causes an increase in masculine-branded alcohol sales, since researchers weren’t able to track whether people watching the losing game were the ones buying the alcohol.

But the study found the connection between failure and masculinity applied to more than football and alcohol. Amazon shoppers who recently reported a feeling of failure were 1.25 times more likely to purchase a masculine brand than if they had experienced success, regardless of the person’s gender.

Even ads that connected themes of failure with masculinity got more clicks, according to the study.

“That’s our message to the marketers, that you can use associations that your brand has and think about how you want to advertise,” Jones told the Statesman.

‘Marketing is psychology,’ Boise State researcher says

Jones theorized that feelings of hostility from failing are what drive people toward masculine brands.

“Hostility can cause people to pursue aggressive and dominant behaviors, something that males often are associated with,” Jones said. In the study, participants who felt more hostile after attempting a difficult task also leaned toward masculine brands.

Jones said consumers can also benefit from the marketing strategy. Participants who had experienced a setback that were given a stress ball with “masculine” features, black and firm, felt more competent afterward. But those given a “feminine” stress ball, orange and soft, had no change in emotions.

The study’s findings could apply to a variety of cultures, Jones told the Statesman, because masculinity and femininity have “some evolutionary roots.” Males are usually “the more aggressive ones, while females have been nurturing,” Jones said.

Tristan Bridges, a professor of gender sociology at University of California Santa Barbara, disagreed with that statement. Bridges said societal expectations related to gender affect our actions, and how people see gender varies globally.

“In our society, we see masculinity as meaningful and valuable,” Bridges told the Statesman. “When people perceive themselves to have lost access to it, it’s not surprising that they try to find ways to regain access, and we don’t need biology or evolution to explain that.”

Jones plans to continue studying how failing affects our behavior, and is now researching how breakups change our purchasing habits.

“Marketing is psychology,” Jones said. “To sell products, you need to understand how people think, how they react.”