We document a unique driver of consumer behavior: the public disclosure of a firm’s gender pay gap. Four experiments provide causal evidence that when firms are revealed to have gender pay gaps, consumers are less willing to pay for their goods, a reaction driven by consumer perceptions of unfairness. Unlike reactions to CEO-to-worker wage gaps, this effect varies by consumers’ gender: Compared to men, women show larger decreases in purchase intentions toward firms with gender pay gaps. Social media data, from before and after the United Kingdom legally mandated many firms to disclose their gender pay gaps, further demonstrate that gender pay gaps correlate with negative consumer reactions; once again, women are more likely than men to express negative sentiments online in response to pay gap-related topics. Although we show that firms consumers will punish firms with their wallets, we also observe boundary conditions: When decisions incur a sufficient cost to the self—such as when needing a ride-share when rain is very likely—the negative effects of gender gap disclosure are attenuated.

中文翻译：

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消费者——尤其是女性——避免从性别薪酬差距较大的公司购买

我们记录了消费者行为的独特驱动因素：公司性别薪酬差距的公开披露。四项实验提供了因果证据，表明当公司被发现存在性别薪酬差距时，消费者不太愿意为他们的商品付费，这是由消费者对不公平的看法所驱动的反应。与对 CEO 与员工工资差距的反应不同，这种影响因消费者的性别而异：与男性相比，女性对具有性别工资差距的公司的购买意愿下降幅度更大。英国法律要求许多公司披露其性别薪酬差距前后的社交媒体数据进一步表明，性别薪酬差距与消费者的负面反应相关；再一次，女性比男性更有可能在网上表达与薪酬差距相关的话题的负面情绪。