| The findings will be
presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual
meeting on Feb. 7. The study demonstrates that
experiential purchases, such as a meal out or theater tickets, result in
increased well-being because they satisfy higher order needs,
specifically the need for social connectedness and vitality -- a feeling
of being alive.
"These findings support an extension of basic need
theory, where purchases that increase psychological need satisfaction
will produce the greatest well-being," said Ryan Howell, assistant
professor of psychology at San Francisco State University.
Participants in the study were asked to write
reflections and answer questions about their recent purchases.
Participants indicated that experiential purchases represented money
better spent and greater happiness for both themselves and others. The
results also indicate that experiences produce more happiness regardless
of the amount spent or the income of the consumer.
Experiences also lead to longer-term satisfaction.
"Purchased experiences provide memory capital," Howell said. "We don't
tend to get bored of happy memories like we do with a material object.
"People still believe that more money will make them
happy, even though 35 years of research has suggested the opposite,"
Howell said. "Maybe this belief has held because money is making some
people happy some of the time, at least when they spend it on life
experiences."
"The mediators of experiential purchases: Determining
the impact of psychological need satisfaction" was conducted by Ryan
Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State
University and SF State graduate Graham Hill. |
