Impulse Buy: Shopping while ovulating is a bad idea

The Manolos look much prettier, the diamonds sparkle brighter and suddenly you need a new DVF dress in your wardrobe — all because it’s that time of the month: ovulating time that is.

A recent study by the University of Texas at San Antonio reveals women desire for more men and more shopping when they are most fertile.

Professor Kristina Durante, author of the study published in the Journal of Consumer Research surveyed more than 500 ladies in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 40.

“Just like a fisherman casting a wide net, ovulating women seek to cast a wide net into the dating pool and expand the number of potential suitors they have to choose from,” Professor Durante explained. “And, this desire for variety in men at ovulation triggers a variety seeking mindset that carries over into desire for variety in products.”

So much for retail therapy…

Curbing the urge to shop

Every time Professor Durante asked the selected women to imagine they are ‘in a loving, relationship with a desirable partner’, and prompted married women to put on their wedding rings, they ‘no longer crave variety despite in the ovulation period. In other words, loyalty to a romantic partner can translate to brand loyalty.

You best stock up on the chocolate and the necessities before your next period creeps in, just so you don’t need to leave the house and face the forbidden, enticing gates of the department store!

Natasha Gan