Time flies when you're looking at a Victoria's Secret catalog.
Being exposed to sexually arousing images like those in a Victoria’s Secret catalog may slow down the way people perceive time and make them more impatient when it comes to getting delayed rewards, according to a study from Professor Gal Zauberman of the Wharton School and Professor Kyu Kim of USC Marshall School of Business.
Researchers compared the effects a Victoria’s Secret catalog had on a group of heterosexual men to the reactions of a group of heterosexual men who had viewed images of rocks and trees and found that those who had viewed the catalog had a more protracted sense of time and were more interested in immediate monetary rewards, Psychology Today reports (h/t Business Insider).
“Sexual cues induce impatience through their ability to lengthen the perceived temporal distance to delayed rewards,” according to the report.
In short, it seems when a customer gets all hot and bothered, it may also affect how they approach things like money and shopping. The role scantily dressed models can play in marketing has previously been attributed to the way they get attention as well their uncanny ability to make customers feel sexy themselves. This study seems to not only support the age-old adage that sex sells, but by making customers increasingly impatient it could indicate that sex can help sell things fast.
Victoria Secret’s marketing success is based on more than just T and A. The company has found success through a multi-platform approach that includes its ubiquitous catalog as well as print, internet and TV ads, not to mention its fashion shows.