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Men who like expensive watches, Italian costumes or a "big BMW" now have a good excuse for their desire to buy: that's the nature. Testosterone encourages them to buy luxury products that improve status.
This is the conclusion of scientists from several collaborating universities, including the Sorbonne in Paris. Their results were published this week in Nature Communications.
Testosterone has an ambiguous image. On the one hand, the male sex hormone is associated with leadership and strength, on the other hand with aggression and recklessness. Thus, the behavioral economist Paul Smeets (University of Maastricht) concluded in 2016 that the hormone leads to self-overestimation among professional investors. Other recent research suggests that powerful men with high levels of testosterone become narcissistic.
More testosterone, more status
This new research nuance such conclusions. Testosterone certainly affects behavior, not only in men. It mainly stimulates behaviors that translate into more status.
Sometimes it's an aggression or taking risks, for example, among prisoners or investors. But in a different context, cooperation or honesty can give more status. For example, showing prosperity in Western societies can lead to more status.
Personnel on a boat in the port of Monaco. (Photo: Getty Images)
After testing testosterone, researchers found that men were more sensitive to status-enhancing gadgets (see box below). They were shown three almost identical watch advertisements with one sentence.
Prestige vs. "technologically advanced"
"Prestige, craftsmanship, luxury and attention to detail belong to the DNA of this watch", the variant improving the ;state. And indeed, men have nailed. At least, more than with commercials that bells advertise as "indestructible" or "technologically advanced".
In turn, having a status repels the level of testosterone. This happens, for example, if you win a sports competition, but also if you spot a good potential partner for example. Even driving in a nice car can cause a spike in testosterone.
"Conditions favoring testosterone"
This is good to know for marketers and advertisers. "Testosterone always fluctuates," says Hilke Plassmann, co-author of a video from one of the participating universities. "If you have a product that you want to market as a luxury product and improve status, you could get a lot of effect if you take care of testosterone enhancing conditions."
In other words: ask a beautiful woman to give you your advertisement, or advertise right after a football match (which must then be won by the right team).
Women, Men, and Beautiful Cars
Marketing Strategist Erik Schampers owns a company specializing in gender marketing. The conclusions of the investigation are not foreign to him. He also sees the link between status and testosterone in his work
"In fact, male behavior comes from the desire to have the most beautiful female," he says. "People sometimes think that men love beautiful cars, but women like men with beautiful cars, that's why men want such a car."
This research focused exclusively on men. According to scientists, future experiments should focus on the effect of testosterone in women. Schampers expects results to be comparable and that women are also more sensitive to status enhancing products.
The animal instinct for luxury goods
Social and social hierarchies are found everywhere, from "schooling to modern human communities," the researchers write. In every culture and every animal species, this happens differently. Being able to hunt well was raising status thousands of years ago, while a university degree, or a Rolex, is now.
But obtaining status is ineffective because it yields nothing. The authors make a comparison with the animal kingdom. A gigantic horned male is quite a gentleman in deer, whereas he does not give him any evolutionary advantage. But, so is the thought, only the most fit goats can afford such a hornet. Powerful enough to make up for this insignificance.
The animal instinct wants us to want such horns too. In the form of luxury items.
Design of the study
A group of 242 men was subjected to two experiments. One part (125) received an extra testosterone shot, the other group (118) received a placebo. The study was conducted in double blind, that is to say that neither the researchers nor the subjects knew who belonged to which group.
In the first experiment, men had to arrange clothing brands preferably. Before the test, the team examined which brand got the most status: Calvin Klein (plus), or Levi (minus).
In the second experiment, men showed ads of the same product, but in three ways touted: the status, the rise of power or as a product of high quality.
Men with testosterone were chosen to choose Calvin Klein. In the advertising increasing status they often spoke of an intention to purchase.
Source • RTL Z / Sam Trompert
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