Research from June 2011 by faculty at Rice University, the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and the University of Minnesota finds that men’s conspicuous spending is driven by the desire to have uncommitted romantic flings. And, gentlemen, women can see right through it.
The series of studies, “Peacocks, Porsches and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption as a Sexual Signaling System,” was conducted with nearly 1,000 test subjects and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“This research suggests that conspicuous products, such as Porsches, can serve the same function for some men that large and brilliant feathers serve for peacocks,” said Jill Sundie, assistant professor of marketing at UTSA and lead author of the paper.
Just as peacocks flaunt their tails before potential mates, men may flaunt flashy products to charm potential dates. Notably, not all men favored this strategy – just those men who were interested in short-term sexual relationships with women.
“The studies show that some men are like peacocks. They’re the ones driving the bright colored sports car,” said co-author Vladas Griskevicius, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota.
Also see: How do you pronounce Porsche?
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But a guy who’s slept with a lot of women isn’t necessarily a player — if he’s sleeping with several of them simultaneously, however, he is. When a man manipulates you into believing you’re his one and only when you’re actually his one of many, he’s officially hit player status. Julie’s college roommate was strung along for over a year by a guy who constantly swore that he was going to break up with his girlfriend to be with her, but never actually did, leaving her disappointed and drained.