Want to feel sexy? It's all in the bag, study finds

With the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show airing last night, I'm feeling a little more sexy than usual... Is this true though, can a brand change the way you feel about yourself?

If you feel a little snobbier when driving a BMW, or feel a little more outdoorsy if you slip on your North Face, or feel a little more hip when you use your new MacBook Air - you're not alone. It's widely known that a product's brand image has a profound impact on your own self image. It's even been proven in a recent study by the University of Minnesota, that now we actually sometimes change our own personalities to match a brand we want to be associated with.

"For example, if you want to be conveyed as adventurous you may buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or wear casual clothes from stores such as REI," says Deborah Roedder John, a marketing professor at the U of M and one of the authors of the study published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. (You can find the full report here, but a subscription is required.)

Brands are like badges - For one part of the study the U of M researchers recruited about 100 volunteers at a mall, all women between the ages of 18 to 34, and asked each of them to carry around a shopping bag of their choice for an hour: Victoria's Secret, Old Navy or Limited Too. Everyone chose the Victoria's Secret bag. When they came back an hour later they were given a survey about how they felt about themselves. The survey results showed that the 'personality of Victoria's Secret' is sexy, glamorous and feminine. (No word on whether or not the bag made them feel like a 15 year old.)

The same researchers did a study with a pen with the MIT logo on it. The results came back similar saying that they felt smarter when using the MIT pen.

This idea is called "entity theory," and it means your the type of person who seeks our products to make you feel a certain way about yourself. But, if you're not a type of person who is affected by a brand you buy, you really won't feel anything at all during a study like this. The second theory is called the "incremental theory"

So, maybe this theory will help shoppers this holiday season save money. You really don't need to buy the brand you believe makes you who you are. All you really need to do is be associated with it and you'll still feel this same benefit.

What do you think of this idea? Have you experienced it or do you think it's full of crock?