Quickie: A Surprising Reason You Want to Watch Romantic Movies on Valentine’s Day
Research shows it may be more chill than Cupid
Do you watch romantic movies with your partner on Valentine’s Day? Although this tradition may seem like it’s all about lovey dovey feelings inspired by Cupid, studies published in the Journal of Consumer Research show that you may actually be responding to what’s going on with the temperature more than what’s going on in your heart.
“This research offers implications for the movie industry.”
“We often think of love as being warm. This link between love and warmth appears in everyday language, songs, and poems,” authors Jiewen Hong and Yacheng Sun wrote in their article. “But is the connection between romantic love and warmth just a metaphor or is there indeed a direct link between romance and physical warmth?”
Based on their research, it turns out there is. Hong and Sun looked at the relationship between romance and temperature in terms of people’s choices of movies. In one study, they found that participants were more likely to choose a romantic movie over other genres when they were drinking cold tea rather than hot tea. In another study, the researchers reviewed customer movie choices at an online DVD rental…
