PARIS: A single dose of testosterone steers men towards luxury brands of cars, watches, pens, or clothes which, like stag anglers and peacock tails, signal “status” to the female gender, scientists said on Tuesday.
The sex hormone, it turns out, is a major influencer of male consumer behaviour, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
“This is likely because testosterone plays a role in behaviours that relate to social rank [in animals], and owning status products is a strategy to signal one’s rank within human social hierarchies,” said study co-author Gideon Nave of the University of Pennsylvania.
Studies have already established that humans use consumer goods to exhibit social status. But the role of hormones was unknown.
Nave and a team recruited 243 men aged 18 to 55 for a trial. They were asked to choose between two products — of similar quality but one boasting a trademark considered high status — a judgement determined in a previous survey of over 600 men. “We found that the men who received testosterone showed greater preference towards the high status brands,” said Nave.
Do the findings imply that women have a preference for men who drive a Ferrari or wear a Rolex? “The use of brands to signal status does not necessarily have to ‘work’, it’s enough that the men believe that it works,” said Nave.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018
