According to a study released April 17, “Familiarity with and usage of new high-tech products appears to be a common manifestation of innovative behavior,” wrote Steve Hoeffler of Vanderbilt and Stacy Wood of North Carolina State University. “Those who are tech-savvy are also perceived as authoritative on other subjects and as leaders.”

In trials done for the research, they found that “women who used technological gadgets benefited more than their male counterparts.”

What was the most interesting point of the research was that actually knowing how to use the technology wasn’t as important as owning it and looking competent.

This information was released through Vanderbilt University’s NewWise Newsroom.

The article noted that Hoeffler is an associate professor of marketing at Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Wood is Langdon Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Poole College of Management at North Carolina State College. Together they authored the paper “Looking Innovative: Exploring the Role of Impression Management in High-Tech Product Adoption and Use,” published by The Journal of Product Innovation Management.