Victoria's Secret lingerie bags 'make women feel sexy', study claims
It is usually the sensual underwear contained inside a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag that leaves women feel sexy.
But a new study has discovered that simply holding a bag from the American lingerie firm seems to have the same affect.
Researchers found people associated the brand, whose ambassadors have included Heidi Klum, the supermodel, and Miranda Kerr, the Australian model, as “glamorous” and "sexy".
They said their findings add weight to previous studies that found certain brands’ "personalities” rubs off on shoppers.
It could also offer an explanation as to why many women are left feeling happy from purchasing certain products during a day of “retail therapy”.
The study, from the University of Minnesota, concluded women who walked in public with a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag felt more attractive, glamorous, feminine and sexy than those shoppers who carried a plain pink bag.
“When consumers use brands with a very appealing personality, such as Victoria’s Secret, the brand's personality rubs off on them,” Prof Deborah Roedder John, who led the study, told The Daily Telegraph.
“We found women who carried a Victoria's Secret shopping bag felt better looking, glamorous, and feminine after carrying the bag.
“They didn't even use or wear any of the products.”
She added: “A brand like Victoria's Secret, people think of that as being very sexy, glamorous and feminine.
“We were interested in finding out if you use that brand, will you start to believe that you are more glamorous, sexy feminine.
In their study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the researchers gave 85 female shoppers either a Victoria's Secret shopping bag or a plain pink shopping bag.
After an hour, the shoppers were asked to fill out a survey, where they rated themselves on a list of personality traits, including those they associated with the lingerie brand.
Shoppers who carried the lingerie bag perceived themselves as more feminine, glamorous, and good-looking than shoppers who held the plain shopping bag, they concluded.
Meanwhile, the researchers also found that holding a "pen" from a prestigious university left people feeling smarter, more of a leader and harder working.
After six weeks using the pens with a MIT logo, the MBA students viewed themselves as more intelligent and better all-around pupils despite some believing they had failed a math’s test.
Prof John said that her findings found that not all consumers were are affected by brands, only those who viewed themas a way to "signal who they are".
“Using brands with appealing personalities can rub off on the way consumers see themselves, even if the brand is used for only a short time,” Prof John said.
“Many people are surprisingly receptive to brands.”
“We think (some) women or men … will be affected by using a brand as long as the brand has a strong, well-defined, and appealing personality.”
Prof John, who studies marketing, said more research was needed to prove if “using an unpopular and unappealing brand would cause consumers to feel worse about themselves”.
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