Strategically Stunning: The Professional Motivations Behind the Lipstick Effect

Keywords

lipstick effect, economic concern, appearance enhancement

Abstract

The phenomenon of increased desire for, and use of, appearance-enhancing items during times of economic recession has been termed the lipstick effect. The motivation underlying this effect has been attributed to women’s desires to enhance their attractiveness to financially stable partners (Hill, Rodeheffer, Griskevicius, Durante, & White, 2012). In the present research, we found evidence for our proposal that during times of economic recession, the heightened economic concern experienced by women translates into increased desire to use appearance-enhancing items to both attract romantic partners and create a favorable impression of themselves in the workplace, as both strategies can help women become secure financially. We also found that women with high economic concern elect to improve their professional appearance more frequently than their romantic attractiveness, which suggests that their motivation to obtain resources through a job dominates their motivation to obtain resources through a partner.

Original Publication Citation

"Netchaeva, E., & Rees, M. R. (2016). Strategically stunning: The professional motivations behind the lipstick effect. Psychological Science, 27(8), 1157-1168."

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2016

Publisher

Psychological Science

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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