Do you see that woman with bright red lipstick or that guy in the colorful shirt? They’re probably fans of spicy curry.
A new study from Nankai University in China found that eating spicy food increases people’s desire to buy bright products. The likelihood that someone will gravitate toward brightly colored clothing, accessories, and cosmetics after eating spicy food rises by nearly a third, ScienceDirect reports.
The culprit is what’s called “benign masochism.” At first, the body perceives spicy food as a threat because of the pain it can cause. That triggers a protective reaction—sweating or a racing heart. Then, the researchers say, people experience “a positive, invigorating arousal”: they realize they can handle the discomfort or even enjoy it. That enjoyment can come from looking at bright colors that match their aroused mood.
This is the first study to examine how spicy food affects mood and color choices.
How did scientists reach that conclusion?
The team ran four lab experiments with more than 500 participants. One group of volunteers ate food containing capsaicin—the spicy compound found in chili peppers. The researchers compared that group’s responses with those of volunteers who ate non-spicy foods, like peanut butter.
Participants’ arousal levels rose after eating spicy food, which in turn increased their tendency to buy bright items by about 30 percent.
To test the hypothesis, the researchers surveyed a larger sample of university students to compare their daily eating habits with their clothing preferences.
“People have a unique ability to take pleasure from sensations that the body initially perceives as threats. The increased arousal caused by eating spicy food strengthens the pull toward bright colors, because people become motivated to seek visual signals that match their aroused state,” the authors wrote in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.
The team says this causal link could be used to boost sales for shops located near restaurants that serve spicy food.
In response to increased consumer interest, those shops could display in their windows “items like bright clothing, brightly colored electronics, or vivid cosmetics.”
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