To do, to have, or to share? Valuing experiences over material possessions depends on the involvement of others.
@article{Caprariello2013ToDT, title={To do, to have, or to share? Valuing experiences over material possessions depends on the involvement of others.}, author={Peter A. Caprariello and Harry T. Reis}, journal={Journal of personality and social psychology}, year={2013}, volume={104 2}, pages={ 199-215 } }
Recent evidence indicates that spending discretionary money with the intention of acquiring life experiences-events that one lives through-makes people happier than spending money with the intention of acquiring material possessions-tangible objects that one obtains and possesses. We propose and show that experiences are more likely to be shared with others, whereas material possessions are more prone to solitary use and that this distinction may account for their differential effects on…
216 Citations
To do or to have, now or later? The preferred consumption profiles of material and experiential purchases
- Business
- 2015
The hidden cost of value-seeking: People do not accurately forecast the economic benefits of experiential purchases
- Psychology, Business
- 2014
In spite of the experiential advantage, people consume material items in the pursuit of happiness. We conducted three studies to determine if people commit forecasting errors when deciding between…
The beneficial effects of prosocial spending on happiness: work hard, make money, and spend it on others?
- Psychology, Economics
- 2014
Previous research has shown that the way people spend their money is as important to happiness as how much money people earn. Specifically, it has been shown that spending money on others contributes…
Seeking Lasting Enjoyment with Limited Money: Financial Constraints Increase Preference for Material Goods over Experiences
- Business
- 2015
Consumers with limited discretionary money face important trade-offs when deciding how to spend it. In the current research, we suggest that feelings of financial constraint increase consumers’…
Money Buys Happiness When Spending Fits Our Personality
- PsychologyPsychological science
- 2016
It appears that money can indeed buy happiness, when spending matches the buyer’s personality, and that people whose purchases better match their personality report higher levels of life satisfaction.
The asymmetric connection between money and material vs. experiential purchases
- Psychology
- 2016
We examined the relationship between having a monetary mindset and the pursuit of material goods over experiences and found that people tend to think of their material purchases more in monetary…
Some “Thing” to Talk About? Differential Story Utility From Experiential and Material Purchases
- PsychologyPersonality & social psychology bulletin
- 2015
A series of eight studies demonstrate that taking away the ability to talk about experiences would diminish the enjoyment they bring and that people believe they derive more happiness from talking about experiential purchases.
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 116 REFERENCES
The relative relativity of material and experiential purchases.
- PsychologyJournal of personality and social psychology
- 2010
It is proposed that the evaluation of experiences tends to be less comparative than that of material possessions, such that potentially invidious comparisons have less impact on satisfaction with experiences than with material possessions.
To do or to have? That is the question.
- PsychologyJournal of personality and social psychology
- 2003
Evidence that experiences make people happier is focused on because they are more open to positive reinterpretations, are a more meaningful part of one's identity, and contribute more to successful social relationships.
Happiness for Sale: Do Experiential Purchases Make Consumers Happier Than Material Purchases?
- Business
- 2009
Previous theories have suggested that consumers will be happier if they spend their money on experiences such as travel as opposed to material possessions such as automobiles. We test this experience…
Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness:
- Psychology, Business
- 2005
Previous research indicates that materialistic aspirations are negatively associated with happiness and psychological health. Recent research extends these findings by demonstrating that allocating…
I am what I do, not what I have: the differential centrality of experiential and material purchases to the self.
- PsychologyJournal of personality and social psychology
- 2012
The authors show that the tendency to cling more closely to cherished experiential memories is connected to the greater satisfaction people derive from experiences than possessions.
Social Exclusion Causes People to Spend and Consume Strategically in the Service of Affiliation
- Psychology
- 2011
When people's deeply ingrained need for social connection is thwarted by social exclusion, profound psychological consequences ensue. Despite the fact that social connections and consumption are…
Buyer's remorse or missed opportunity? Differential regrets for material and experiential purchases.
- BusinessJournal of personality and social psychology
- 2012
It is found that people's material purchase decisions are more likely to generate regrets of action (buyer's remorse) and their experiential purchase decisions will lead to regrets of inaction (missed opportunities); these results were not attributable to differences in the desirability of or satisfaction provided by the two purchase types.
The preference for experiences over possessions: Measurement and construct validation of the Experiential Buying Tendency Scale
- Psychology, Business
- 2012
There is growing support that money spent on experiential items increases an individual's happiness. However, there is minimal research on the causes and long-term consequences of the tendency to…
Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness
- Psychology, EconomicsScience
- 2008
It is found that spending more of one's income on others predicted greater happiness both cross-sectionally (in a nationally representative survey study and longitudinally) and in a field study of windfall spending.