Does Consumer Well-Being Affect Hedonic Consumption? (original) (raw)

A mechanism model of the effect of hedonic product consumption on well‐being

Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2010

In response to recent calls for research into activities that may increase happiness, this study uses longitudinal data to investigate changes in within-subject, instead of between-subject, well-being. In the context of hedonic product consumption, this study reveals a mechanism by which consumption influences well-being through the mediating effect of satisfaction with associated life domains. Four years of data from a large national panel survey show that consuming hedonic products has indirect effects on well-being, by improving consumers' satisfaction within relevant life domains. High hedonic consumption improves satisfaction with relevant life domains, primarily through more frequent consumption of low-cost hedonic products rather than less frequent consumption of high-cost hedonic products.

Hedonics in Consumer Behavior

2007

Virtually all consumers want to maximize the happiness that comes with consumption. For thousands of years, philosophers and theologists have debated how to attain joy and avoid misery. In recent decades, consumer researchers, psychologists, and economists have accumulated empirical data and developed testable theories on happiness (e.g.).

A Review of the Relationship between Subjective Well-Being and Consumption

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

One of the determinants that most happiness economists concentrate on is income. There are not many of prior research studies on the linkages between consumption and subjective well-being (SWB). The objective of this paper is to review and to bridge a gap in the literature on the relationship between consumption and an individual's SWB. It is commonly accepted that consumption increases an individual's well-being. However, does consumption really increase an individual's subjective well-being (SWB)? It focuses on papers that have been published in international journals since 1990 both in the area of economics and psychology. This paper also discusses the reasons why consumption is selected as a proxy, instead of income. Consumption in this paper specifically emphasizes on material goods and experiential goods. There are some interesting findings. Material goods deliver comfort which is temporary and fades with time. It only increases SWB in the short term. An individual adapts to the gain from material goods through time. On the other hand, experiential goods deliver pleasure. Experiential goods provide more SWB than material goods because of three reasons. The first reason is that experiences are less likely to disadvantageous comparisons, or social comparison. The second reason is that experiential goods are less possible to adapt through time. The final reason is that experiential goods are more likely to continually fascinate and provide satisfaction. As a result, it is suggested that an individual should spend money on experiential goods rather than material goods.

Hedonomics in Consumer Behavior

Handbook of Consumer Psychology, 2014

There are at least two general approaches to improve consumer's happiness. One is to enhance the magnitude of desired external stimuli (e.g., amount of income, size of home, number of shoes). The other is to find the optimal relationship between external stimuli and happiness. The following analogy illustrates the distinction between these approaches. Suppose that a child loves wooden blocks and possesses some. He has played with the ones he owns for a while and is bored. How can he increase his happiness? One approach is to obtain more blocks. The other approach is to find a better way to combine the existing pieces and build more enjoyable projects.

Consumer Aspirations and Subjective Well-Being

Journal of International Consumer Marketing

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how consumerism aspirations affect consumers' subjective well-being. We used Consumer Aspirations Theory because it focuses on the consequences of divergence between aspired goals or wants concerning outcomes and individual's subjective wellbeing. We investigated the relationship between consumer hedonism, power values, life and income satisfaction, and consumer subjective well-being of 15,299 respondents in 124 European regions. Our findings indicate that most of the variance in consumer subjective well-being happens at the individual level, with 14.63% of the variance due to regional differences. Even though variables such as national GDP and political freedom has received attention in subjective well-being research, our results did not support any such region level effects. At the individual level, the negative relationship between hedonism, social power values, and consumer well-being supports the assertions of Consumer Aspirations Theory and indicates that high aspirations might lead to unfulfilled ambitions.

Consumer Well Being and Life Satisfaction

isara solutions, 2014

The present section examines the discoveries of the overview that was done to determine the degree of buyer prosperity and life fulfillment. Customer prosperity catches the fulfillment encounters of purchasers from obtaining to transfer, i.e., buyer life space (Sirgy et al., 2008) while life fulfillment measures the fulfillment of shoppers with the life all in all (Diener et al., 1985). This part is sorted out into three areas. To start with area talks about the discoveries identified with purchaser prosperity, trailed by examination of consumers satisfaction‟ with their lives in general. In last segment, relationship among buyer general states of mind towards promoting, customer prosperity and life fulfillment is broke down.