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Psychologists confirm economist’ findings that experiences like vacations seem less positional than objects like TVs and cameras.:
When it comes to spending disposable income, experiential purchases tend to make people happier than material purchases (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). But why are experiences more satisfying? We propose that the evaluation of experiences tends to be less comparative than that of material possessions, such that potentially invidious comparisons have less impact on satisfaction with experiences than with material possessions. Support for this contention was obtained in 8 studies. We found that participants were less satisfied with their material purchases because they were more likely to ruminate about unchosen options (Study 1); that participants tended to maximize when selecting material goods and satisfice when selecting experiences (Study 2); that participants examined unchosen material purchases more than unchosen experiential purchases (Study 3); and that, relative to experiences, participants’ satisfaction with their material possessions was undermined more by comparisons to other available options (Studies 4 and 5A), to the same option at a different price (Studies 5B and 6), and to the purchases of other individuals (Study 5C). Our results suggest that experiential purchase decisions are easier to make and more conducive to well-being.
Subsidize Experiences
That is a good talk. I had read his book, but he is a good speaker.
Experiences are way better than things because you can brag about them more. The rarer the experience, the higher the degree of difficulty, the less money you spend, the weirder the food, the better the brag.
Anyone with $1,000 can get a fancy TV (or however much it costs), but a trip into the Atlas mountains in Morocco with a Peace Corps volunteer to a little village to talk to the locals who speak only Berber? Backpacking alone across South America, taking trains and buses with the Aymara and Maya, not encountering a flush toilet for a week? Ha. Top that, person who takes a package tour to Cozumel!