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Consumers’ pursuit of material and experiential purchases: A review
Author(s) -
Gilovich Thomas,
Gallo Iñigo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
consumer psychology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2476-1281
pISSN - 2476-1273
DOI - 10.1002/arcp.1053
Subject(s) - experiential learning , psychology , personality , marketing , social psychology , business , pedagogy
More than 15 years ago, Van Boven and Gilovich (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 2003, 1193) presented evidence that experiential purchases make people happier than material purchases once consumers have covered their basic needs. This experiential advantage has attracted significant attention from researchers in the fields of social and consumer psychology. In this article, we review the literature on this subject. We first define the constructs of experiential and material purchases, and contrast them with previous, related constructs. We then identify and review the different mechanisms that appear to underlie the experiential advantage. Finally, we examine evidence of systematic differences in how people make decisions about material and experiential purchases, focusing on differences in how consumers process information and evaluate options prior to making a purchase.