The Unsung Benefits of Material Things

Although research suggests that people derive more happiness from buying life experiences than material objects, almost no studies have examined how people actually feel while consuming real-world experiential and material purchases. In the present research, we provided the first examination of people’s momentary happiness while consuming these purchases. Participants were randomly assigned to spend C$20 on a material versus experiential purchase (Study 1) or to report a material versus experiential gift they received at Christmas (Study 2); participants in both studies reported their momentary happiness regarding these purchases over 2 weeks, using daily-diary (Study 1) and experience-sampling (Study 2) methodologies. Results suggest that material and experiential purchases deliver happiness in two distinct flavors: Material purchases provide more frequent momentary happiness over time, whereas experiential purchases provide more intense momentary happiness on individual occasions.