How Ovulation Affects Who You Date

As if you didn’t already know, your menstrual cycle affects your body, mood, behavior, so on and so forth. I mean, it’s been ingrained in our brains since those prepubescent sex ed days. Furthermore, it’s no secret that the ovulation point in the cycle affects you like no other’s business from spiking your libido to making you more attractive. Now, a new study found that ovulation affects your choice in dating partners, as well as the products you usually shop for. In research conducted by the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business, women seek more options in dating partners when they are most fertile, which also leads them to seek out a greater variety of products and services.

Lead investigator and marketing assistant professor, Kristina M. Durante said, “Just like a fisherman casting a wide net, ovulating women seek to cast a wide net into the dating pool and expand the number of potential suitors they have to choose from. And, this desire for variety in men at ovulation triggers a variety seeking mindset that carries over into desire for variety in products.”

Looking at 553 female participants in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 40, the researchers found that choices made in personal relationships could possibly influence the choices made in the consumer market. For singles, when you're ovulating, you can forget about having a "type." Because more often than not, you're going to find yourself feeling a little more adventurous in your choice of partner. As the study says, that variety mindset can actually carry on to your shopping habits. For example, you have a preference for Crest toothpaste. You don't know why. But you just always manage to buy it on auto-pilot every time you need to stock up. However, when you're ovulating, that auto-pilot shopping mode to buy Crest toothpaste might turn into a, "Huh, let me try the Colgate."

At the same time, researchers found that loyalty to a romantic partner reduced the desire for product variety, indicating that loyalty in relationships could somehow translate to brand loyalty. So, if you find yourself feeling a little more open with your dating pool during ovulation, you'll be a lot more open to trying new products and brands. However, if you're in a relationship and are completely loyal to your partner, you're more likely to stick with what you already like.

Researchers believe their findings could be useful for companies and their marketing strategies. “For about a week every month, normally cycling women – constituting over a billion consumers – may be especially likely to respond to appeals by competing brands to switch,” said Durante.

If you're looking to date that not-so-good person, or someone you wouldn't normally think of dating, try making the approach during ovulation. At the very least, you have some hefty scientific reasoning behind it. Much better than blaming it on say, beer goggles.

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