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Journal Article•DOI•

Women's Luxury Products as Signals to Other Women

Burak Tunca1, Evrim Yanar2•
Lund University1, University of Lausanne2
21 Dec 2020-Vol. 4, pp 227-238
TL;DR: Wang and Griskevicius as discussed by the authors reported that women flaunt luxury products to signal their partners' devotion, thereby guarding their relationships from rivals, and found that perceived partner contribution to possessions was higher for designer products.
Abstract: We present two preregistered replications of the paper by Wang and Griskevicius (2014), which reported that women flaunt luxury products to signal their partners' devotion, thereby guarding their relationships from rivals. In Study 1, which was a conceptual replication with real luxury brands, we did not observe an effect of luxury products on partner devotion but found that women assumed that male partners contribute financial resources to women's luxury possessions. In Study 2, which was a direct replication with designer products, we observed a small-sized effect in the opposite direction, such that perceived partner devotion increased when women used nondesigner products. Similar to Study 1, perceived partner contribution to possessions was higher for designer products. (Less)

Summary (2 min read)

Jump to: [Introduction] – [1. Background] – [2.1. Hypotheses] – [2.2. Sample and Design] – [2.3. Procedure and Measures] – [2.4. Results] – [3.2. Procedure and Measures] – [3.3. Results] and [4. Discussion and Conclusions]

Introduction

  • This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Now Publishers terms and conditions for self-archiving.
  • In Study 2, which was a direct replication with designer products, the authors observed a small-sized effect in the opposite direction, such that perceived partner devotion increased when women used nondesigner products.
  • Similar to Study 1, perceived partner contribution to possessions was higher for designer products.

1. Background

  • The motivational underpinnings of luxury consumption have long been a research area in marketing, and much attention has been directed towards understanding the role of luxury possessions in romantic relationships.
  • Yet, this motive did not explain why women spend on luxury, given that men are not attracted by expensive handbags or designer jewelry.
  • The question of why women spend on luxury was later addressed by Wang and Griskevicius (2014), which showed that the main motivation behind women’s luxury possessions was “mate guarding”, as women used luxury products to signal other women that they had a devoted partner, thereby protecting the mate and the relationship.
  • This study has not only been cited widely (over 300 citations in Google Scholar as of February 2020), but also received substantial coverage in media outlets such as Daily Mail, CBS News, The Atlantic, and Science Daily.
  • The main tenets of this research have not been replicated in the literature.

2.1. Hypotheses

  • In Study 1, their objective was to conceptually replicate and extend the findings presented in Wang and Griskevicius (2014).
  • Luxuriousness of a woman’s possessions will lead other women to perceive her as having a more devoted partner, also known as H1.
  • 1 Study hypotheses and methods were preregistered prior to data collection to ensure that data collection and analyses were conducted as planned.
  • Preregistration, as well as the survey, dataset, and analyses outputs for both experiments are publicly available at the Open Science Framework (see https://osf.io/czvu6/).
  • Benevolent sexism gives rise to beliefs such as women should be cherished by men or women’s financial needs should be satisfied by men; thus, women who score high in this trait might be more likely to link a woman’s luxury products to her partner’s devotion and his resources.

2.2. Sample and Design

  • The authors collected data from 250 participants (original experiment: N = 69) using the online participant pool Prolific (Palan & Schitter, 2018).
  • Participants were randomly assigned to the conditions (nnonluxury = 123, nluxury = 127).
  • He is her date and current relationship partner.

2.3. Procedure and Measures

  • First, all participants responded to six items that gauged benevolent sexism, which were adopted from the short version of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (e.g., “Many women have a quality of purity that few men possess”, “Women should be cherished and protected by men”; Glick & Whitehead, 2010).
  • Louis Vuitton® and Tiffany & Co.®, which are among the most desirable luxury brands in the U.S. (Statista, 2018), represented luxury brands; H&M® and ZARA®, which are among the top general apparel brands (Brandirectory, 2019), represented nonluxury brands.
  • Participants read the following description (luxury condition in parentheses): “Imagine you are at a gala party, where you see another woman.
  • The survey ended with demographics questions and debriefing about the aim of the study.

2.4. Results

  • Hypothesis 1 examined whether women perceived other women with luxury possessions to have a more devoted partner.
  • Hypothesis 2 examined the likelihood that women assumed that the target woman’s partner paid for her luxury belongings.
  • The corresponding correlation matrix for these variables is presented in Table 2.
  • Conditional mediation analyses showed that, in the luxury possessions condition, the indirect effect of benevolent sexism on devotion through perceived partner contribution was not significant (B = 0.05, 95%CI [-0.01, 0.11], p = .102).

3.2. Procedure and Measures

  • As in Study 1, participants first read the description of a woman who was at a gala party with her date and had designer possessions: “Imagine you are at a gala party, where you see another woman.
  • He is her date and current relationship partner.
  • She is carrying a luxury designer (an unbranded) handbag.
  • You also notice that she has expensive and impressive (inexpensive and unimpressive) jewelry.”.
  • Next, participant responded to the manipulation check item (“I think this woman is interested in designer products”), followed by the two items measuring devotion (r = 0.86, p < .001; α = 0.92) and one item measuring male partner’s financial contribution to woman’s possessions, which were identical to the items in Study 1.

3.3. Results

  • Hypothesis 1, which stated that women with luxury possession will be perceived as having a more devoted partner, was not supported in Study 1.
  • The authors further conducted internal meta-analyses for the two presented replications.

4. Discussion and Conclusions

  • Wang and Griskevicius (2014) posited that one of the major motives for women to consume luxury is mate guarding, such that women use luxury possessions to signal other women that their partners are devoted to the relationship.
  • Another possibility is that women with luxury possessions were implicitly perceived to have materialistic traits, and the participants did not believe that the partner was devoted to a highly materialistic person.
  • Experimentally manipulating whom the women is with (e.g., friend, mother, husband, etc.) could uncover whether this contribution is linked to the romantic relationship or it is just a demand effect.

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Citations
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Journal Article•
Blatant Benevolence and Conspicuous Consumption: When Romantic Motives Elicit Strategic Costly Signals

[...]

Vladas Griskevicius, Joshua M. Tybur, Jill M. Sundie
01 Jan 2008-ACR North American Advances
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the possibility that conspicuous displays of consumption and benevolence might serve as ''costly signals'' of desirable mate qualities, and found that romantic motives seem to produce highly strategic and sex-specific self-presentations best understood within a costly signaling framework.
Abstract: Conspicuous displays of consumption and benevolence might serve as \"costly signals\" of desirable mate qualities. If so, they should vary strategically with manipulations of mating-related motives. The authors examined this possibility in 4 experiments. Inducing mating goals in men increased their willingness to spend on conspicuous luxuries but not on basic necessities. In women, mating goals boosted public--but not private--helping. Although mating motivation did not generally inspire helping in men, it did induce more helpfulness in contexts in which they could display heroism or dominance. Conversely, although mating motivation did not lead women to conspicuously consume, it did lead women to spend more publicly on helpful causes. Overall, romantic motives seem to produce highly strategic and sex-specific self-presentations best understood within a costly signaling framework.

483 citations

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Evaluating replicability of ten influential research on sensory marketing

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Kosuke Motoki, Sayo Iseki
28 Oct 2022-Frontiers in Communication
TL;DR: The authors evaluated the replicability and generalizability of ten influential research on sensory marketing by conducting a high-powered and pre-registered replication in online settings in non-WEIRD consumers.
Abstract: We attempted to evaluate the replicability and generalizability of ten influential research on sensory marketing by conducting a high-powered and pre-registered replication in online settings in non-WEIRD consumers. The results revealed that only 20% of findings could be successfully replicated, and their effect sizes are as half as the original ones. Two successful studies had relatively larger sample sizes, used sound symbolism, and employed within-participants manipulation of senses. No studies involving visual factors, between-participant manipulation of senses, or interactions between factors could be replicated. Our findings reveal an initial estimate of the replicability and generalizability of sensory marketing.

1 citations

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Marketer behaviour: a case for making this socially real

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Peter Ertl1•
Nottingham Trent University1
17 Jan 2022-Journal of marketing management
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Marketer behaviour: a case for making this socially real

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T Woodall, A Hiller
17 Jan 2022-Journal of Marketing Management
TL;DR: This article argued that the marketing canon has failed to confer social reality to the acts of its key protagonists, marketers, and suggested that more emphasis on marketer agency is suggested, this in the context of nominally focused anthropological enquiry.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article argues that the marketing canon, as presently configured, has failed to confer social reality to the acts of its key protagonists – marketers. As an adjunct to both collective and contextually diverse perspectives on marketing, more emphasis on marketer agency is suggested, this in the context of nominally focused anthropological enquiry. It is further argued that the status afforded to consumer behaviour be similarly conferred for marketer behaviour, the latter under-represented within marketing research. Drawing on ontological nominalism, speech act theory and Searle’s social constructionism, this article addresses implications for intersubjective meaning within our community and offers provisional thoughts for how this might be structured and improved. It ends with a call to action for both the rehabilitation and expansion of purposeful marketer behaviour study.
References
More filters
Journal Article•
The Subtle Signals of Inconspicuous Consumption

[...]

Jonah Berger, Morgan K. Ward
01 Jan 2009-ACR North American Advances
TL;DR: While theories of signaling and conspicuous consumption suggest that more explicit markers facilitate communication, the authors examines the utility of subtle signals and highlights the communication value of less explicit signals and discusses the implications for branding, signal persistence and the communication of identity.
Abstract: While theories of signaling and conspicuous consumption suggest that more explicit markers facilitate communication, this article examines the utility of subtle signals. Four studies demonstrate that while less explicit branding increases the likelihood of misidentification (e.g., observers confusing a high-end purchase for a cheaper alternative), people with more cultural capital in a particular domain prefer subtle signals because they provide differentiation from the mainstream. Such insiders have the necessary connoisseurship to decode the meaning of subtle signals that facilitate communication with others \"in the know.\" Consistent with the notion that these effects are driven by outward communication, they are stronger in identity-relevant product domains and situations where consumption is more public. This work highlights the communication value of less explicit signals and discusses the implications for branding, signal persistence, and the communication of identity. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

361 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Sociosexuality and Romantic Partner Choice

[...]

Jeffry A. Simpson1, Steven W. Gangestad2•
Texas A&M University1, University of New Mexico2
01 Mar 1992-Journal of Personality
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored how individual differences in sociosexual orientation systematically relate to the types of attributes people prefer in romantic partners and found that restricted individuals tended to select the former type of a romantic partner whereas unrestricted individuals chose the latter type.
Abstract: In three studies, we explored how individual differences in sociosexual orientation systematically relate to the types of attributes people prefer in romantic partners. In Investigation 1, individuals rated the importance of 15 partner attributes. Two factors emerged: personal/parenting qualities and attractiveness/social visibility. Individuals who possessed a restricted sociosexual orientation rated attributes that loaded highly on the former factor as being more important than those that loaded highly on the second one, whereas the reverse was true for unrestricted individuals. In Investigation 2, individuals evaluated two prospective romantic partners, one who was described as highly attractive and socially visible but less desirable in terms of personal/parenting qualities and one who had the opposite set of attributes. Unrestricted individuals tended to select the former partner, whereas restricted individuals chose the latter one. Investigation 3 examined the attributes actually possessed by their romantic partners. Unrestricted individuals were dating partners who were more socially visible and attractive, whereas restricted individuals were dating partners who were more responsible, faithful/loyal, and affectionate. Results are discussed in terms of an evolutionary model that links sociosexuality to mate selection.

357 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Protecting the self through consumption: Status goods as affirmational commodities

[...]

Niro Sivanathan1, Nathan C. Pettit2•
London Business School1, Saint Petersburg State University2
01 May 2010-Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate that individuals consume status-infused products for their reparative effects on the ego and that these high-status goods serve the purpose of shielding an individual's ego from future self-threats.

357 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Subtle Signals of Inconspicuous Consumption

[...]

Jonah Berger1, Morgan K. Ward2•
University of Pennsylvania1, Southern Methodist University2
01 Dec 2010-Journal of Consumer Research
TL;DR: While theories of signaling and conspicuous consumption suggest that more explicit markers facilitate communication, the authors examines the utility of subtle signals and highlights the communication value of less explicit signals and discusses the implications for branding, signal persistence and the communication of identity.
Abstract: While theories of signaling and conspicuous consumption suggest that more explicit markers facilitate communication, this article examines the utility of subtle signals. Four studies demonstrate that while less explicit branding increases the likelihood of misidentification (e.g., observers confusing a high-end purchase for a cheaper alternative), people with more cultural capital in a particular domain prefer subtle signals because they provide differentiation from the mainstream. Such insiders have the necessary connoisseurship to decode the meaning of subtle signals that facilitate communication with others “in the know.” Consistent with the notion that these effects are driven by outward communication, they are stronger in identity-relevant product domains and situations where consumption is more public. This work highlights the communication value of less explicit signals and discusses the implications for branding, signal persistence, and the communication of identity.

351 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
A critical period for provisioning by Hadza men: Implications for pair bonding

[...]

Frank W. Marlowe1•
Harvard University1
01 May 2003-Evolution and Human Behavior
TL;DR: This paper found that women benefit from a husband's provisioning when they have young nurslings, while their husbands have higher returns, and these higher returns are not due to more meat, but to less widely shared foods, like honey.

332 citations

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Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Q1. What are the contributions mentioned in the paper "Replication note: women's luxury products as signals to other women" ?

The authors present two preregistered replications of the paper by Wang and Griskevicius ( 2014 ), which reported that women flaunt luxury products to signal their partners ’ devotion, thereby guarding their relationships from rivals. 

To eliminate this possibility, the authors conducted Study 2, a direct replication with designer ( vs. nondesigner ) products. One possibility is desirability bias. Another possibility is that women with luxury possessions were implicitly perceived to have materialistic traits, and the participants did not believe that the partner was devoted to a highly materialistic person. Future studies should further scrutinize the boundary conditions of the relationship between luxury products and partner devotion.