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Dating site OK Cupid has a blog, where they often discuss interesting results from their subscribers. I saw a post recently
that gelled some thoughts I'd been having about watches. How are they related, you ask?
This is no fun to type, but a big part of why people buy watches is to demonstrate their success, and thus their attractiveness as a mate. Economists and evolutionary biologists call it 'signalling' or signalling theory while sociologists call it 'lekking.'
Simply put, that Rolex you bought is a way of saying that you'd make a good mate, because you are accomplished and high-status. Pure and simple. (See 'dishonest signals'. Or honest ones.)
But why do men do this, you ask? As OK Cupid explained, because it works:
We did a little investigating as to whether a person's stated income had any real effect on his or her online dating experience. Unsurprisingly, we found that it matters a lot, particularly for men. This is a by-age messaging distribution:
...
These bold colors contain a subtle message: if you're a young guy and don't make much money, cool. If you're 23 or older and don't make much money, go die in a fire. It's not hard to see where the incentive to exaggerate comes from.
Simply put, rich men get the dates, end of story. Given that motivation, an expensive watch is probably somewhat effective, as long as the brand is recognizable as such. Heavily marketed and advertised brands no doubt figured this out ages ago.
The story gets more complicated. A post today points out that signals often have an audience, in that more wealthy consumers pick subtler signals, as they really don't care if the poorer notice them; the audience is their peers. Makes sense.
Rather than rely on obvious logos, expensive products use more discreet markers, such as distinctive design or detailing. High-end consumers prefer markers of status that are not decipherable by the mainstream. These signal group identity only to others with the connoisseurship to recognize their insider standing.
Females come to these arenas to choose mates when the males' hierarchy has become established, and preferentially mate with the dominants in the centre.
Before this, I used to convince myself that less-common watches like my Stowa weren't signalling; my ego loses that battle and I probably have to concede that I'm just signalling to a very small audience of other otakus.
Sigh.
