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What do women want? According to marketers, anything, as long as it’s pink.
From baby blankets to cell phones, the first step in wooing female consumers is to have it pinkwrapped.
Well, research published this week in Current Biology might validate the practice, although feminists may see red.
Researchers from Newcastle University asked more than 200 people to chose their preferred color from a range of red-green to blue-yellow.
They found that women, across the board, strongly preferred reddish hues, while the men not nearly so much. Further, they gave subjects the Bem Sex Role inventory that measures femininity, and found that the more feminine you are the more you prefer reddish hues.
Since the study was cross-cultural, scientists say the preference may be part of our nature. They speculate that in hunter-gatherer days women, who may have gathered more than hunted, honed a skill for spotting red ripe fruit. They also suggest women are more sensitive to blushed skin, in order to better read emotional states.
So this sensitivity to reddishness they say, stuck, and may explain the cliché of being pretty in pink.
