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Playing the Field: The Effect of Fertility on Women's Desire for Variety

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  • Kristina M. Durante
  • Ashley Rae Arsena

Abstract

Previous research finds that ovulation--the time each month when women are most fertile--can shift women's mating psychology and increase their desire for new options in men. However, might ovulation also increase women's desire for new products? Four studies find that women select a greater number of unique options from consumer product sets at high fertility. This effect is especially strong for women in committed relationships. Additional findings show that the fertility shift in desire for variety in products is driven by the fertility shift in desire for new options in men activating a variety-seeking mind-set. Subsequently, loyalty to a romantic partner, whether manipulated or measured, moderated the effect of fertility on consumer variety seeking. This research contributes to the literature by revealing when, why, and how fertility influences desire for variety in consumer choice and highlights the mating motives that underlie this effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina M. Durante & Ashley Rae Arsena, 2015. "Playing the Field: The Effect of Fertility on Women's Desire for Variety," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(6), pages 1372-1391.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/679652
    DOI: 10.1086/679652
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    Cited by:

    1. Stenstrom, Eric P. & Saad, Gad & Hingston, Sean T., 2018. "Menstrual cycle effects on prosocial orientation, gift giving, and charitable giving," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 82-88.
    2. Karpinska-Krakowiak, Malgorzata, 2021. "Women are more likely to buy unknown brands than men: The effects of gender and known versus unknown brands on purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Salonen, Ville & Munnukka, Juha & Karjaluoto, Heikki, 2020. "The role of fundamental motivations in willingness-to-pay online," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Senyuz, Aysu & Hasford, Jonathan, 2022. "The allure of arrogance: How relationship formation motives enhance consumer preferences for arrogant communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 106-120.
    5. Steven J. Stanton & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong & Scott A. Huettel, 2017. "Neuromarketing: Ethical Implications of its Use and Potential Misuse," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(4), pages 799-811, September.
    6. Chen, Rui & Liu, Maggie Wenjing & Guan, Yuhong & Zheng, Yuhuang, 2020. "Female responses to genetically modified foods: Effects of the menstrual cycle and food risk concerns," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 608-618.
    7. Durante, Kristina M. & Griskevicius, Vladas & Ulu, Sevincgul (Sev), 2020. "The effect of fertility on loss aversion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 599-607.
    8. Wang, Yan & Jiang, Jing & Yang, Ying, 2023. "Magic odd numbers: The effect of numerical parity on variety-seeking," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

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