How Make-Up Drives the Stakes Up: The Effect of Beautification on Consumer Risk-Taking

Beautification is ubiquitous in daily life, and a pervasive part of human behavior down the ages. Consequently, the beauty industry in its various forms is flourishing worldwide. However, consumer research is almost silent on the psychological effects of beautification, with most prior work looking exclusively at the antecedents of cosmetics consumption. In this research, across seven studies conducted in both laboratory and field settings, we find that beautification (using beauty products, self-grooming, or even by touching up selfies) to improve one’s physical attractiveness towards a desired ideal, can increase consumers’ propensity to engage in a variety of risk-seeking behaviors, including gambling significantly greater amounts at a racetrack. This effect is mediated by heightened feelings of luck induced by the perception that one’s appearance has indeed become more attractive. We also identify a number of theoretically-derived boundary conditions for the effect, and rule out self-esteem, confidence, impression management, deservingness, and power as alternative explanations. These results suggest that over and above enhancing one’s physical appearance, beautification can have profound effects on seemingly unrelated psychological states and behaviors. (176 words)