Thaindian News

Washington, June 22 (ANI): Carrying a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag can make you feel like a gorgeous and glamorous woman, according to a new research, which says that certain brands have personalities that can actually change the way some people feel about themselves.

“Why are brands such as Cartier, Harley-Davidson, and Nike so well-liked by consumers? One of the reasons is that they have appealing personalities. 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,” say authors Deborah Roedder John and Ji Kyung Park (both University of Minnesota).

In a study, the researchers asked female shoppers in a local mall to carry either a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag or a plain pink shopping bag. After an hour, shoppers were asked to rate themselves on a list of personality traits, including traits associated with the Victoria’s Secret brand. Shoppers who carried the Victoria’s Secret bag perceived themselves as more feminine, glamorous, and good-looking than shoppers who carried the plain shopping bag.

People bank on brands to look good because they believe their personal qualities are fixed and cannot be improved by their own efforts at self-improvement.

In subsequent studies, the authors found that some people felt more intelligent, and more like leaders when they carried a pen embossed with an MIT logo. In one study, this was the case even after some participants were led to believe they did poorly on a math test.

The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research. (ANI)