A group of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem did a recent experiment that ended with a remarkable result: owning a designer handbag or bracelet may make a person feel like more than just a million bucks–it may actually boost human performance.
Dan Ariely, a behavioral researcher on the team and professor at Duke University, found that brand name products can act like placebos on people, much like the effect of a harmless pill given to a patient to see if it produces a psychological “feel-better†effect.
In the study, Ariely’s participants, who were given products tagged as luxury brands, read better, listened better and concentrated better in comparison to the participants who used the same products that were marked as cheaper brands.
However, branding expert Rob Frankel says that “there’s no way†that Louis Vuitton can make a person do better in life. Frankel, who is white, says when it comes to the black community, it’s all about what he calls “the golden rule of marketing.â€
“If you want to go fishing, go where the fish are.â€