Correspondence: Rita Martenson, School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg University, Box 610, Göteborg SE40530, Sweden. Tel: +46 31 786 1471; Fax: +46 31 786 4499; e-mail: Rita.Martenson@handels.gu.se

¹is Professor of Marketing at Gothenburg University, School of Business, Economics and Commercial Law. She has published numerous articles, books, and conference papers in marketing communications, branding, cross-cultural issues, as well as retailing and financial marketing.

Received 20 December 2007; Revised 20 December 2007.

Abstract

The majority of consumers lack awareness of how their financial situation will be when they retire. Women face a particularly severe situation. One reason is that reformed retirement systems are disadvantageous for women. Another reason is that women are much less interested to manage their money and to make long-term investments. This paper reviews prior studies on gender differences for financial consumers. Results are inconclusive and more research is needed to clarify when and why there are gender differences. This paper also analyses how the Swedish population has allocated their pension investments within the state pension system as well as the results from a nationally representative sample of consumers. There are less significant differences between expert men and women. Most differences are between novice men and women. Men are both more profit-oriented and more motivated to make financial investments than women are.