According to a new study, people whose surnames start with letters late in the alphabet may be the fastest to buy. What could possibly explain this weird¹ phenomenon, which the study authors dubbed² "the last-name effect"? The research didn't provide a definitive³ reason, but the authors offer an intriguing⁴ theory.

 

一项新的研究显示，姓氏首字母在字母表中位置越靠后的人在购物时做决定越快。研究人员将这种现象叫做“姓氏效应”。至于为什么会有这样奇怪的现象，该研究没有提供明确的解释，不过研究人员给出了一个比较有趣的理论。

 

Since America's obsession⁵ with alphabetical⁶ order often forces the Z's to the back of the line in childhood, they suffer. They were always the last to get lunch in the cafeteria — sorry, Young, the other kids bought all the chocolate milk again — and had to beg for the teacher's attention from the back of the classroom. So later in life, when the Z's — and even onetime Z's who became A's through marriage — see an item they really like for sale or are offered a deal, they jump on it, afraid that supplies won't last.

 

因为美国人一直热衷于按照字母顺序排队，所以姓氏字母靠后的人从小就开始遭受排在队尾的境遇。中午吃饭的时候，他们总是排在最后，轮到他们的时候，巧克力奶都卖光了；坐在教室后排的他们还得想办法吸引老师的注意。所以，长大以后，当这些总是排在队尾的人看到他们喜欢的东西或者合适的交易，他们会立马出手，生怕晚了就没了。

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