Men prefer certain types of brands when they’re shopping under the influence. Of hormones, that is.
Men who were given a dose of testosterone preferred products that convey status — think luxury brands like Calvin Klein PVH, -0.03% — over products of the same quality but lower status, a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications found.
The results suggest there’s a biological motivation behind people’s brand preferences. Both humans and animals may seek out higher social rank because it brings benefits, including better mating opportunities, more control over resources and even a reduction in stress, the authors said.
Though the study has limitations — only 243 men were involved, and it did not involve actual purchases — researchers say the findings could have real world applications, especially for marketers who want to time messages to men for maximum impact.
Men’s testosterone levels go up and down in different situations. It surges when they see a woman they’re attracted to, after their favorite team wins a game, and after milestones such as graduation or divorce. It goes down right after a man becomes a father.
“If you have a product that you want to advertise more to be perceived as a luxury product, your response rates to this ad might go up under circumstances where you have high testosterone levels,” study co-author Hilke Plassmann said in an interview. Plassmann is the chaired professor of decision neuroscience at INSEAD, a nonprofit business school with campuses worldwide.
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The study involved men aged 18 to 55. Half were given a single dose of a “widely prescribed” testosterone gel and half received placebos. The men then had to choose between 10 pairs of clothing brands that were of the same quality, but conveyed different status levels. In one case participants chose between Calvin Klein (high status) and Levi’s (lower status). (The participants ranked the brands in order of perceived status before the experiment.)
The men that were under the influence of testosterone preferred the brands that were “seen to lift its owner much higher in the social hierarchy,” the researchers said. (Representatives for Calvin Klein and Levi’s did not immediately respond to request for comment on the study.)
In a second experiment, researchers presented the men with mock ads for products. Men who had been given testosterone preferred the products that were advertised as status-enhancing over those that had been advertised as power-enhancing or high in quality.
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In addition to INSEAD, the study’s authors were from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; California Institute of Technology Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario in Canada; and ZRA Laboratory, an Oregon company that provides hormone testing services.
There’s also evidence that women are influenced by hormones when they shop, and researchers noted that there’s a need for more research on that topic. “[W]omen also engage in conspicuous consumption, and preliminary evidence suggests that biological factors (including hormones that relate to the menstrual cycle) are involved,” the authors wrote.
