The study looked to establish whether or not hormone levels are a contributing factor to luxury purchases and the effect it has on brand preference.
Gideon Nave, assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School with a specialty in neuroeconomics, led the study to “investigate the influence of testosterone on men’s preferences for positional goods” where participants received were administered testosterone or a placebo to measure the differences.
“Participants completed two tasks. In the first task, we showed participants pairs of apparel brands that differed in their associations with social rank and asked them to indicate their preferences for one or the other,” Nave stated.
“The second task investigated whether testosterone influenced attitudes toward the same goods when they were positioned differently. Specifically, we measured participants’ attitudes toward products that were positioned either as status-enhancing, power-enhancing, or high in quality.”
The results confirmed Nave’s hypothesis and found participants who received testosterone were more likely to preference brands associated with a higher social rank.
“Testosterone increased positive attitudes toward goods that were positioned as status-enhancing but not those positioned as power-enhancing or high in quality,” Nave noted.
“We thus conclude that testosterone elevates men’s desire to promote their social status through economic consumption.”
Luxury goods commentator, Pam Danziger of Unity Marketing Online said the study provided “ample evidence that men with their higher levels of testosterone are more driven to aspire for luxury brands that offer the promise to gain greater social status and prestige.”
“Of course, luxury brands self-select their customers through marketing and positioning. Some people, and some men, may be attracted to brands that offer a higher-status value on the outside, as Nave’s research shows,” she added.
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