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The Unsung Benefits of Material Things : Material Purchases Provide More Frequent Momentary Happiness than Experiential Purchases Weidman, Aaron C.; Dunn, Elizabeth W.

Abstract

Although research suggests that people derive more happiness from buying life experiences than material objects, almost no studies have examined how people actually feel while consuming real-world experiential and material purchases. In the present research, we provided the first examination of people’s momentary happiness while consuming these purchases. Participants were randomly assigned to spend $20 on a material vs. experiential purchase (Study 1) or to report a material vs. experiential gift they received at Christmas (Study 2); participants in both studies reported their momentary happiness regarding these purchases over two weeks, using daily-diary (Study 1) and experience-sampling (Study 2) methodologies. Results suggest that material and experiential purchases deliver happiness in two distinct flavors: material purchases provide more frequent momentary happiness over time, whereas experiential purchases provide more intense momentary happiness on individual occasions.

Item Metadata

Title
The Unsung Benefits of Material Things : Material Purchases Provide More Frequent Momentary Happiness than Experiential Purchases
Alternate Title
Material purchases and momentary happiness
Creator
Weidman, Aaron C.; Dunn, Elizabeth W.
Date Issued
2016-05-01
Description
Although research suggests that people derive more happiness from buying life experiences than material objects, almost no studies have examined how people actually feel while consuming real-world experiential and material purchases. In the present research, we provided the first examination of people’s momentary happiness while consuming these purchases. Participants were randomly assigned to spend $20 on a material vs. experiential purchase (Study 1) or to report a material vs. experiential gift they received at Christmas (Study 2); participants in both studies reported their momentary happiness regarding these purchases over two weeks, using daily-diary (Study 1) and experience-sampling (Study 2) methodologies. Results suggest that material and experiential purchases deliver happiness in two distinct flavors: material purchases provide more frequent momentary happiness over time, whereas experiential purchases provide more intense momentary happiness on individual occasions.
Subject
experiential purchases; material purchases; happiness; well-being; decision making; money
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2017-01-31
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0319148
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/59458
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Psychology, Department of
Citation
Weidman AC, Dunn EW. The unsung benefits of material things material purchases provide more frequent momentary happiness than experiential purchases. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2016;7(4):390-399.
Publisher DOI
10.1177/1948550615619761
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Graduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International