Retrieved from: http://www.ian.mb.ca/uploaded_images/fashion2100-737862.jpgSee caption http://www.ian.mb.ca/uploaded_images/fashion2100-737862.jpg. [Women's fashion]. Retrieved from: http://www.ian.mb.ca/uploaded_images/fashion2100-737862.jpgSee caption Comment May 22, 2014 A recent study suggests that ovulating women attempt unconsciously to purchase clothing that is more attractive than what other local women are wearing. According to post-doctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, Kristina Durante, "The desire for women at peak fertility to unconsciously choose products that enhance appearance is driven by a desire to outdo attractive rival women...If you look more desirable than your competition, you are more likely to stand out...We found that, when ovulating, women chose sexier fashion products when thinking about other attractive, local but not distant women...If you are in New York, a woman who lives in LA isn't going to be seen as competition" (University of Minnesota, 2010) While the end result is the attempt to attract a man, the more immediate concern, according to Durante, is the woman's desire, first and foremost, to outdo other local women. "In order to entice a desirable mate, a woman needs to assess the attractiveness of other women in her local environment to determine how eye-catching she needs to be to snare a good man." In the study, researchers had ovulating women view a series of photographs of attractive local women and then asked them to choose clothing and accessory items to purchase. The majority of participants chose sexier products than those who had been shown photographs of unattractive local women or women who lived over 1000 miles away. This change in consumer choice is not a conscious decision and non-ovulating women are not subject to the effect. The current findings have practical implications for marketers because ovulatory cycle effects may profoundly influence women's consumer behavior. "For about five to six days every month, normally ovulating women -- constituting over a billion consumers -- may be especially likely to purchase products and services that enhance physical appearance," says Durante. Such products include not only clothing, shoes, and fashion accessories, but also cosmetics, health supplements, fitness products, medical procedures, and more (University of Minnesota, 2010).
The NBA Signs Fashion Company Peace Love World To Meet The Growing Demand Of Its Women's Apparel Market - Forbes
With a fan base that is 38-percent women, the NBA is one league that has made expanding its womens apparel options a focus. Recently, the NBA signed a league-wide license with Miami-based Peace Love World, a global luxury lifestyle brand whose clothes have found their way onto women from Oprah to Ellen and Jennifer Lopez to Kim Kardashian. With a laundry list of celebrity supporters lining up to wear Peace Love Worlds pieces, its perhaps no surprise that the NBA tapped the company to be one of a handful of league-wide womens apparel licensees. Whats unique about the relationship that the NBA created with Peace Love World, though, is that it was born from a relationship cultivated by one of its own teams. Last season, during the Miami Heats push during the NBA Playoffs, Peace Love Worlds creator, Alina Villasantes, phone would not stop ringing. Shirts resembling Peace Love Worlds design, featuring sheik and flowing fabric with simplistic, yet poignant, phrases were popping up at Heat games. The problem, though, was that they were not Villasante and Peace Love Worlds designs. Seeing the impact the designs were having on its fans, the Miami Heat soon reached out to Villasante and offered her the opportunity to sell Peace Love World products to Miami Heat fans at the teams store at its home arena through a team license. With the NBA Playoffs in force, the Heat were in the midst of their White Hot Heat marketing campaign, which sees nearly every Heat fan attending the teams home games wearing white apparel. With her team license in tow, Villasante and her team pulled every white piece of clothing in Peace Love Worlds warehouse and began designing womens apparel meeting Heat fans desires.