How A Lingerie Model Affects Space And Time

A new study says that sexually charged images have an effect on how space and time are perceived.

The research, from the USC Marshall School of Business, found that when men were exposed to sexual images — like a Victoria’s Secret model — it changed the way that they see time. “Can Victoria’s Secret Change the Future: A Subjective Time Perception Account of Sexual Cue Effects on Impatience,” is the name of the paper that will be published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

USC Marshall professor Kyu Kim and Wharton School professor Gal Zauberman, conducted the research.

In one study, men were given sexually charged imagery, then asked to judge if three and six-month time frames were “very short” or “very long” distances away from the present time. The men who had been exposed to images they found attractive were more likely to find the three and six month time frames to be further into the future than the control group.

Another study showed men images from the Victoria’s Secret catalog, then presented the subjects with a gift certificate from Amazon.com available on that day or three months into the future. The researchers then asked the subjects the dollar value they would accept for having to wait. The men who were exposed to sexually charged imagery (compared to those in the control group exposed to nature images) were more impatient, and said future discounts would have to be larger to make up for the delay in time.

The study concluded that for marketers who use sexual imagery to promote their products it would be more useful to do promotions with a more immediate payoff. They found that consumers with sex on the brain may be more inclined to spend their money right away.