Fertile Rivalry

Ovulating women unconsciously buy sexier clothes, says new research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

Ovulating women unconsciously buy sexier clothes, says new research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. The study finds that ovulating women unconsciously dress not to impress men, but to outdo rival women. “The desire for women at peak fertility to unconsciously choose products that enhance appearance is driven by a desire to outdo attractive rival women,” says Kristina Durante, a post-doctoral fellow at Carlson School. This research, forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Research, provides some of the first evidence of how, why and when consumer behaviour is influenced by hormonal factors. The research focused its efforts on the assumption that competition for a partner would be influenced by a woman’s fertility status. “We found that when ovulating, women chose sexier products when thinking about other attractive, local but not distant women,” says Durante. “If you are in New York, a woman who lives in LA isn’t going to be seen as competition.”