Do Experiences Or Material Goods Make Us Happier?

[JBeukema]

Highly materialistic individuals, the authors found, were equally happy with their positive purchases and equally unhappy with negative purchases whether they were experiences or material goods. The researchers also found that emotional intensity decreases more quickly after material purchases than experiential ones.
Consumers should be especially cautious when choosing among experiences, say the authors, because making a negative choice can lead to lasting unhappiness with the experience. Risky material purchases, on the other hand, are less potentially damaging.

Do Experiences Or Material Goods Make Us Happier?

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"Previous studies have only tested happiness with positive experiences versus positive material purchases," said Irwin, associate professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business. "We have studied the effects of negative purchases-ones where the results went poorly."
Indeed, Irwin said, experiences do lead to more happiness when the purchase goes well. "However, for negative purchases, bad experiences lead to more lasting unhappiness than do bad material purchases. Experiences 'stay with' us longer than material purchases, whether good or bad. They simply have more lasting power over our happiness. Imagine that really terrible play or restaurant meal—it is tougher to recover from picking the wrong experience than from picking the wrong thing."
So, when considering the perfect romantic gift, it may be best to forgo the risky adventure vacation (with its risk of danger and bad weather) in favor of a safer gift, such as a piece of jewelry. A bad choice of an experience could make your valentine unhappy for a much longer time than will a badly chosen material gift.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211111000.htm