Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2012 Aug;103(2):275-91. doi: 10.1037/a0028657. Epub 2012 May 28.
Although consumer spending typically declines in economic recessions, some observers have noted that recessions appear to increase women's spending on beauty products--the so-called lipstick effect. Using both historical spending data and rigorous experiments, the authors examine how and why economic recessions influence women's consumer behavior. Findings revealed that recessionary cues--whether naturally occurring or experimentally primed--decreased desire for most products (e.g., electronics, household items). However, these cues consistently increased women's desire for products that increase attractiveness to mates--the first experimental demonstration of the lipstick effect. Additional studies show that this effect is driven by women's desire to attract mates with resources and depends on the perceived mate attraction function served by these products. In addition to showing how and why economic recessions influence women's desire for beauty products, this research provides novel insights into women's mating psychology, consumer behavior, and the relationship between the two.
尽管消费者支出在经济衰退期间通常会下降，但一些观察人士注意到，经济衰退似乎会增加女性在美容产品上的支出——所谓的“口红效应”。本文作者使用历史支出数据和严格的实验，研究了经济衰退如何以及为何影响女性的消费行为。研究结果表明，衰退线索（无论是自然发生的还是实验引发的）会降低对大多数产品（如电子产品、家居用品）的需求。然而，这些线索一致地增加了女性对那些能增加对配偶吸引力的产品的需求——这是对“口红效应”的首次实验证明。其他研究表明，这种效应是由女性希望用资源吸引配偶的愿望所驱动的，并且取决于这些产品所具有的被感知的吸引配偶的功能。除了展示经济衰退如何以及为何影响女性对美容产品的需求外，这项研究还为女性的求偶心理、消费行为以及两者之间的关系提供了新的见解。
