The lipstick index, created by chairman of Est\u00e9e Lauder Leonard Lauder in 2011, is the theory that consumers are ready to indulge in cheaper\u2014yet still satisfying\u2014purchases like lipsticks over expensive items like designer bags in rough economic times such as the recession, according to U.S. News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Lauder \u201chypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to gauge the economy. When it\u2019s shaky, he said, sales increase as women boost their mood with inexpensive lipstick purchases instead of $500 slingbacks\u201d (qtd. in New York Times<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

In other words, when the economy is low, people are stressed or depressed and what is one way we reduce or momentarily solve that problem? Shopping\u2014but we can\u2019t splurge and treat ourselves with overpriced items so we resolve to the little things in life like a new set of lipsticks.<\/p>\n

Although \u201c[this] theory has been debunked many times,\u201d according to Forbes<\/a><\/em>, personally, it is very simple: our morale may be low but at least we look great.<\/p>\n

Not to mention, lipstick are not \u201cinferior goods,\u201d as said by the New York Times<\/a><\/em>. In fact, they\u2019re a luxury item that boosts one\u2019s confidence\u2014I don\u2019t think of it as second choice to, for example, a pair of $300 shoes I would have bought instead, but as a deserving little bonus gift for myself that provides me a different kind of happiness. An example of an inferior good would be choosing Taco Bell over having dinner at my favorite taqueria, Gordos, because I should be saving the money.<\/p>\n

Sarah Hill and four other researchers studied Lauder\u2019s theory, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology<\/em>, \u201c[confirming] that the lipstick effect is not only real, but deeply rooted in women\u2019s mating psychology\u201d (Scientific American<\/a>). Hill explains that in a time of economic instability where unemployment rates are high, women want to look their best to attract the financially stable opposite sex who is scarce during recession.<\/a><\/p>\n

But lipstick sales have been declining since 2007 while sale polish \u201care up since the first half of 2008,\u201d according to market research firm Mintel<\/a> (qtd. in Times<\/em>). Lauder responds that \u201c[nail] polish] is the new lipstick\u201d in Times<\/a><\/em>, and once again reiterates his lipstick index as an idea on the significance of succumbing to smaller luxury items like beauty products, regardless of what it is, during hard financial times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lipstick index, created by chairman of Est\u00e9e Lauder Leonard Lauder in 2011, is the theory that consumers are ready to indulge in cheaper\u2014yet still satisfying\u2014purchases like lipsticks over expensive items like designer bags in rough economic times such as the recession, according to U.S. News. Lauder \u201chypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3074,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions\/3074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/j469.ascjclass.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}