Overview
- The PLOS One paper published Sept. 2 reported that women near ovulation showed stronger tendencies to choose or display conspicuous luxury goods, a pattern the authors interpret as a social signal to attract male attention.
- The evidence comes from three non-experimental studies that used urine hormone assays and cycle surveys and included samples of 70 university students, 1,486 survey respondents, and 966 decision-task participants.
- Study 1 found ovulating participants drew larger luxury logos, Study 2 found increased desire for luxury items intended for public display but not private use, and Study 3 showed a tilt toward luxury gift certificates that vanished when participants read that men do not notice designer clothes.
- The authors and press notes emphasize key limits: the studies are correlational and not causal, they excluded women on hormonal contraception, sample sizes and contexts varied, and the results may not generalize across all situations.
- Coverage has linked these findings to a smaller University of Tokyo study that reported cycle-linked changes in body odour and to luxury-market data, and the next steps to watch are larger replications and work testing causal mechanisms and real purchasing behavior.