The sudden urge to splurge on a designer handbag might not be as random as it seems.
Researchers have found that women are more likely to buy and display luxury goods during the most fertile point of their menstrual cycle.
The reason, they say, could be rooted in an ancient drive to attract a prospective mate.
And by showing off the latest Gucci, Chanel or Louis Vuitton, women are more likely to be noticed by men.
‘We suggest that women engage in conspicuous luxury consumption during ovulation, when they have a physiologically activated mating goal, because doing so helps women be noticed by men,’ the researchers wrote in the journal Plos One.
‘Being noticed by as many men as possible increases the likelihood of attracting a desired partner for a romantic relationship.’
The findings indicate that buying high-end goods such as designer clothes, accessories, jewellery and luxury cars is not only to signal wealth and prestige.
Instead, it provides a way of standing out during the time of the month when women tend to have increased sexual desire and want to outshine potential competition.
Results showed that ovulating women with high fertility had an increased desire to purchase luxury to be flaunted in public, but not in private
Researchers have found that women are more likely to buy and display luxury goods during the most fertile point of their menstrual cycle (stock image)
The study, carried out by a team from Jeonbuk National University of the Republic of Korea, was split into three sections.
During each, they used urine samples to measure hormone levels and a survey that estimated a woman’s current phase in the menstrual cycle.
In the first part of the experiment, 70 female university students were asked to draw logos of luxury brands.
Analysis revealed they drew larger logos near ovulation compared with the low fertility phase of the cycle, indicating that women prefer more noticeable luxury during this time.
In the second study, nearly 1,500 women were asked about their purchase intentions for luxury and non-luxury brands.
Results showed that ovulating women had an increased desire to purchase luxury to be flaunted in public, but not in private.
The third study revealed that women near ovulation are more likely to choose a gift certificate from a luxury brand over a high street one.
However, when they were informed of research that found men do not notice women’s designer clothes, they were less likely to choose a luxury brand – even when at their most fertile stage.
Analysis revealed they drew larger logos near ovulation compared with the low fertility phrase of the cycle, indicating that women prefer more noticeable luxury during this time
‘What we found most interesting is that the effect of ovulation on luxury desire is not simply a general increase in preference for expensive products,’ the researchers wrote.
‘Rather, it appears to be socially strategic: the effect becomes stronger when luxury consumption is visible and personally relevant but disappears when women believe that men do not pay attention to such signals.’
The overall evidence supports the idea that women’s ovulatory cycle can influence their behaviour toward men, especially with regards to buying expensive brands in a bid to be noticed.
‘We contend that women who are near ovulation try to attract as many men as possible so they can select the best available mate,’ the team wrote.
‘A key part of attracting several possible mates is being noticed. Thus, the strategies women adopt in order to attract men, at a basic level, should focus on getting as many men as possible to notice them.’
Other ways women may try to draw attention to themselves include wearing brighter colours, making choices that are more distinctive, or telling stories and jokes that would receive attention, they explained.
Separate research, published last year, found women smell more attractive to men during their fertile period.
For their study, the team from the University of Tokyo recruited 21 women and monitored them for a month.
They were asked to wear absorbent pads underneath their arms at the four different stages of their menstrual cycle.
Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the researchers were able to work out three particular aroma compounds that increased when women were ovulating – which usually occurs on day 14 of a monthly cycle, when a woman is most likely to get pregnant.
These included (E) – geranylacetone, which has a fresh, floral and slightly sweet scent and tetradecanoic acid, which has a waxy, soapy-like smell.
The scientists then asked men to smell a ‘control’ odour, collected when a woman was not ovulating, and compare it to the same smell but with these aroma compounds manually added.
Analysis revealed that men rated the ‘fertile’ odours as more pleasant, and ranked the faces associated with the samples as more attractive and more feminine.
‘These results suggest that body odour may in some way contribute to communication between men and women,’ the researchers explained.
