Some “Thing” to Talk About? Differential Story Utility From Experiential and Material Purchases

Abstract

Psychological research has shown that experiential purchases (a hike in the woods, a trip to Rome) bring more happiness than material purchases (a designer shirt, a flat-screen television). The research presented in this article investigates one cause and consequence of this difference: People talk more about their experiences than their possessions and derive more value from doing so. A series of eight studies demonstrate that taking away the ability to talk about experiences (but not material goods) would diminish the enjoyment they bring; that people believe they derive more happiness from talking about experiential purchases; that when given a choice about which of their purchases to talk about, people are more likely to talk about experiential rather than material consumption; and that people report being more inclined to talk about their experiences than their material purchases and derive more hedonic benefits as a result--both in prospect and in retrospect.

To do or to have, now or later? The preferred consumption profiles of material and experiential purchases

“…Participants in Study 1a were told to imagine that they were given $1500 to spend on two purchases: an electronic gadget that cost $750 and an all‐expenses‐paid beach vacation that also cost $750. It is worth noting that in addition to being matched on price, these two broad categories have been shown in previous research (Kumar & Gilovich, in press) to be comparable in subjective appeal. That is, 40 raters in a separate investigation (from the same participant pool) confirmed that vacations and electronic goods are seen as roughly equally attractive.…”

“…Because people consume anticipation and get more utility from waiting for experiences than waiting for possessions (Kumar & Gilovich, in press; Kumar et al, 2014; Loewenstein, 1987), we examined whether people are more inclined to delay the consumption of experiences than the consumption of material goods. More specifically, would people prefer to have a possession now and an experience later, or an experience now and a possession later?…”

Travel and Tourism: Spectacularization of Happiness by Media

“…Epicuro entendia que, para sermos felizes, temos de nos afastar das distrações do mundo comercial, gozar o máximo a vida, cercando-nos de amigos e sem desejar o que não precisamos, sem consumismo, e procurando priorizar a qualidade e não a quantidade do que é vivido. O confronto entre quantidade e qualidade é observado em estudos de Gilovich et al (2015a;2015b) que comparam o prazer obtido em compras materiais e em compras experienciais.…”

How Word of Mouth Influences the Storyteller: Does the Effect Replicate in China?

“…Telling the story of an enjoyable past experience also enhances experience duration estimation (Vilches-Montero and Spence 2015) and the self (Chawdhary and Riley 2015). Value derived from talking about experiences (Kumar and Gilovich 2015) and retrospective dilution of the most extremely negative moment in a positive experience (Cowley 2014) explain these amplifications. The previously mentioned articles measure the effects of WOM on storytellers in a western context.…”