Finally, independent of risk perceptions, hope may moderate the relationship between advertised risks and choice, because the yearning component of hope alters consumers’ perceptions of the risk–reward trade-off (Bell 1995). That is, when hope is strong, consumers may yearn for the goal-congruent outcome so intensely that they are willing to bear whatever risk is involved to achieve it. Considerable anecdotal evidence supports this effect. Peiss (1998) and Brumberg (1998) discuss several risky practices that women historically have engaged in to look more beautiful, such as taking the poison belladonna to achieve “bedroom eyes,” ingesting arsenic to improve their complexion, or undergoing carcinogenic X-ray treatments to reduce acne. Today, consumers who hope to look beautiful use botulism to smooth wrinkles, silicone implants to achieve a more attractive bosom, and cosmetic surgery to attain a youthful appearance. Consumers who hope to overcome illness are willing to take untested medications and controversial, expensive methods of alternative healing. In the interpersonal domain, teens who hope to be “cool” adopt such risky behaviors as underage smoking, drinking, drug use, shoplifting, and unprotected sex. Childless couples who desperately hope for children are willing to undergo expensive and potentially dangerous physical procedures to become pregnant. Hamilton (1978) indicates that people risked lives, families, fortunes, and the ability to return to their homeland for the hope of striking it rich during the Gold Rush. Thus: