Getting the Most for the Money: The Hedonic Return on Experiential and Material Purchases

Carter, Travis J.; Gilovich, Thomas

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-7368-4_3

Cited by 39 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Furthermore, the literature on experiential purchases shows that decisions about experiences can be more closely tied to personal connection and self‐expression than decisions about material goods (e.g., the 1980s‐era concert that the senior professor continues to talk about today vs. the car they once drove; Carter & Gilovich, ; Gilovich, Kumar, & Jampol, ). Individuals are more likely to share their experiences—physically and verbally—with others to foster and maintain social relationships (Bastos, ; Carter & Gilovich, ; Howell & Hill, ). Experiences are also less likely to induce cognitive dissonance and hedonic adaptation and are more likely to be incorporated into a consumer's self‐definition and life story (Kumar & Gilovich, ).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, prior work indicates that experiences are more effective at increasing long-term happiness (i.e., Van Boven, 2005;Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). This is known as the "experiential recommendation": Happiness from experiences (vs. material goods) is less fleeting and wanes at a slower rate, whereas even negative experiences can contribute to satisfaction as they become humorous, entertaining stories to share with others (Aaker, Rudd, & Mogilner, 2011;Carter & Gilovich, 2014;Nicolao, Irwin, & Goodman, 2009). Consumers also predict they will experience greater happiness when they partake in a quantitatively larger or more extraordinary experience, such as a parachute jump from 4,000 m versus from 700 m (Ayadi, Paraschiv, & Vernette, 2017).…”

Section: Consuming Experiences and Personal Connectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Go big or go home: Risk seeking for experiential choices

Mittal

Kapitan

Silvera

2019

J of Consumer Behaviour

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In decision making under risk, do consumers evaluate intangible, experiential options in a choice set in the same way they evaluate tangible, material options? Prior research on prospect theory, typically using either monetary or material objects as choice options, demonstrates that consumers are risk averse for choices involving gains, with a fairly robust tendency to favor a more certain outcome even when that outcome is less desirable. The present research focuses on decision making under risk for experiential options (from movies to concert tickets to hotel stays)—identifying choices between experiential options as a realm in which prospect theory's pattern of risk aversion is weakened and sometimes reversed. Across six studies, this research demonstrates that consumers are more risk seeking for experiential choices and thus more likely to prefer more desirable options, even options that are less certain. Further, the stronger personal connection fostered by experiential (vs. material) choice options mediates risk‐seeking preferences. This work demonstrates a moderator for prospect theory and investigates the tendency toward increased risk seeking among experiential options, in this paper termed a “go big or go home” strategy. Conversely, consistent risk aversion is evidenced for choices involving material options (from clothing to accessories and furniture).

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consuming Experiences and Personal Connectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Go big or go home: Risk seeking for experiential choices

Mittal

Kapitan

Silvera

2019

J of Consumer Behaviour

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“…In another set of studies, empirical evidence indicates that, even when it had no effect on income, people were less happy when they were unemployed than when they were employed (Berger 2013;Clark 2006;Clark and Oswald 1994;Winkelmann and Winkelmann 1998). Furthermore, it is well established that money spent on experiential purchases are enjoyed for a much longer time than the purchase of physical products (Carter and Gilovich 2014). Materialism is another variable that has been related to subjective well-being.…”

Section: Money's Limited Effect On Subjective Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitude toward Consumption and Subjective Well‐Being

Iyer¹,

Muncy²

2015

Journal of Consumer Affairs

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The current study looked at the effects of attitude toward consumption (positive or negative) on subjective well‐being. This research studied attitude toward consumption at both the personal (micro) level and societal (macro) level and subjective well‐being in terms of cognitive well‐being and affective well‐being. Results indicated that micro attitudes, whether positive or negative, were positively related to a consumer's subjective well‐being. In contrast, macro attitudes were negatively related to subjective well‐being. We posit that these findings could be due to micro attitudes enhancing the person's feeling of autonomy and control. In contrast, macro attitudes may create concerns beyond the person's control. For those who wish to impact societal‐level consumption, these findings provide empirical support for the idea that focusing on the personal benefits of anticonsumption may be more effective than emphasizing larger societal concerns. We explore the potential implications of these findings for mandated vs. voluntary approaches to reducing consumption.

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“…Hedonic consumption – those purchases that focus on enjoyment, fun, and pleasure – has been shown to improve happiness (Alba & Williams, 2012; Bigné, Mattila, & Andreu, 2008; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2000; Okada, 2005; Zhong & Mitchell, 2010). However, hedonic purchases provide different levels of well‐being depending on whether the purchases are material items (i.e., tangible objects that are possessions) or life experiences (i.e., events that one lives through; see Carter & Gilovich, 2014, for a review). Overall, the consumption of life experiences, when compared to material items, provides greater well‐being (see Caprariello & Reis, 2013; Carter & Gilovich, 2010, 2012; Howell & Hill, 2009; Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To have in order to do: Exploring the effects of consuming experiential products on well‐being

2014

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The experience recommendationif you want to be happier, buy life experiences instead of material itemsis supported in empirical research. However, this evidence is primarily based on the dichotomous comparison of material items and life experiences. The goal of this article is to examine the effects of consuming experiential productspurchases that fall between material items and life experienceson well-being. Study 1 and Study 2 demonstrate that experiential products provide similar levels of well-being compared to life experiences and more well-being than material items. Study 3 replicates this finding for purchases that turn out well. In addition, Study 3 shows experiential products, when compared to life experiences, lead to more feelings of competence but less feelings of relatedness, which explains why these two purchases result in similar levels of well-being. We discuss why experiential products and life experiences lead to psychological need satisfaction and how our results support the Positive-Activity Model, Self-Determination Theory, and Holbrook and Hirschman's hedonic consumption framework.

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Getting the Most for the Money: The Hedonic Return on Experiential and Material Purchases

Cited by 39 publications

References 43 publications

Go big or go home: Risk seeking for experiential choices

Go big or go home: Risk seeking for experiential choices

Attitude toward Consumption and Subjective Well‐Being

To have in order to do: Exploring the effects of consuming experiential products on well‐being

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