CONSUMER HAPPINESS

& WELL-BEING

C. Gaston-Breton, ESCP Europe (Madrid)

B. Heilbrunn, ESCP Europe (Paris)

CONTEXT: AN OVERUSED BUT UNDERINVESTIGATED TOPIC

MANAGERIAL CONTEXT

Designing “happy products and services”, Delivering “happy

experiences”

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MANAGERIAL CONTEXT

A Human vs. Customer centric approach to Marketing

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MANAGERIAL CONTEXT

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Source: ZenithOptimedia, 2015, The Pursuit of Happiness Study for Millenials (18-34 years old), based on 6,000 respondents across all continents

Millenials are looking for meaningful life and relationships with the

brands

MANAGERIAL CONTEXT

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Source: ZenithOptimedia, 2015, The Pursuit of Happiness Study for Millenials (18-34 years old), based on 6,000 respondents across all continents

MANAGERIAL CONTEXT

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Source: ZenithOptimedia, 2015, The Pursuit of Happiness Study for Millenials (18-34 years old), based on 6,000 respondents across all continents

RESEARCH CONTEXT

Roundtable sessions at CB conferences

Special session of the 2014 Association for Consumer

Research (ACR) Conference, titled "What Makes

People Happy? Antecedents and Consequences of

Happiness.".

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RESEARCH CONTEXT

Research Dialogue in 2015 at Journal of Consumer Psychology

(JCP)

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RESEARCH CONTEXT

Recent research papers in Journal of Consumer Research (JCR)

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2016

2015

RESEARCH AGENDA

i. Impact of Emotions (joy) / Attitudes (optimism) / Practices (mindfulness) on Consumption (consequences and drivers)

ii. Measure of consumer happiness(es),happy products, services and experiences (measures)

iii.Moderating influence of consumer characteristics (socio-demographics, psychographics, ..) on the relationship between happiness & consumption (moderators)

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RESEARCH QUESTION 1.

DRIVERS OF CONSUMER HAPPINESS

PITCH

What makes you more happy: an experiential or a material

purchase?

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EXPERIENTIAL PURCHASES

The distinction between Material and Experiential Purchases was first

introduced by Van Boven and Gilovich (2003)

“Spending money with the primary intention of acquiring a life experience _ an event or series of event that you personally encounter or live through”

“Spending money with the primary intention of acquiring a material possession _ a tangible object you obtain and you keep in your possesion”

Clothes (62%), TV & Computers (26%)

“Having a TV”

Cultural products (43%), Travel (32%), Restaurants (17%)

“Having fun watching a TV program”

EXPERIENTIAL PURCHASES MATERIAL PURCHASES

EXPERIENTIAL PRODUCTS/BENEFITS

MATERIAL PRODUCTS/BENEFITS

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EXPERIENTIAL PURCHASES

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Source: L.V Boven & T. Gilovich (2003) To Do or to Have? That is the question,, Journal of personality an social psychology, 85 (6) 1193-1202.

VALENCE OF THE OUTCOME

Greater happiness for positive experiential purchases but also greater

unhappiness for negative experiential purchases.

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Source: L. Nicolao, J. Irwin, J. Goodman (2003) To Do or to Have? That is the question,, Journal of personality an social psychology, 85 (6) 1193-1202.

NATURE OF THE EXPERIENCE

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Source: Bhattarcharjee and Mogilner (2014) Happiness from ordinary and extraordinary experiences, Journal of Consumer Behavior, 41, 1-17.

NATURE OF THE EXPERIENCE

18 Source: Bhattarcharjee and Mogilner (2014) Happiness from ordinary and extraordinary experiences, Journal of Consumer Behavior, 41, 1-17.

UNDERLYING PROCESSES

“The ambiguous nature of some purchases highlights the fact that it is not whether a purchase is material or experiential per se that

determines the satisfaction people derive from it. Instead, it is the set of psychological processes that tend to be invoked by experiences and material goods that determine how much satisfaction they provide.”

(Gilovich, Kumar and Jampol, 2015)

(1)Experiential purchases enhance social relations more readily and effectively than material goods

(2)Experiential purchases form a bigger part of a person’s identity

(3)Experiential purchases are evaluated more on their own terms and evoke fewer social comparisons than material purchases

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RESEARCH QUESTION 2.

MEASURE OF CONSUMER HAPPINESS

PITCH

Does having kids make people happier?

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HEDONIC & EUDAIMONIC

DIMENSIONS

Hedonic well-being is measured by the occurrence of positive

affect and the absence of negative affect => Focuses on the

outcome of good living and temporal emotional pleasure.

Eudamonic well-being, a doctrine of the ancient Greek

philosopher Aristotle, is explained by self-actualization, self-

acceptance, or commitment to socially meaningful goals =>

Focuses on the way one lives and achieves purpose in life.

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Source: R. Ryan and E. Deci (2001), A review of research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic well-being, Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141-166.

PRESENT & FUTURE

FOCUS

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Mogilner, Aaker, Kamvar (2012), How happiness affects choice, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 429-443.

SATISFACTION/HAPPINESS WITH…

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UK Happiness Index

“How satisfied/happy are you with your current lives?”

Primer Minister David Cameron has launch an on-line survey to 200 000 household/ year.

First findings indicate that the level of life satisfaction is on average a 7,4/10 but the level of anxiety is high for more than 25% of the population (especially for women).

SATISFACTION/HAPPINESS WITH…

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Buthan GNH vs. GNP

“How satisfied/happy are you with your …….?”

“When you think about this purchase, “how happy does it make

you?”

PURPOSE/CONTROL IN…

“To which extent do you feel that you have a purpose or meaning in your

lives?

“How much does this purchase contribute to your happiness in life?”

OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being (2013)

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POSITIVE & NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

“For each emotion in the list, indicate the extent to which it is related to a

purchase? “(intensity and direction)

JOY (HAPPY, PLEASED, JOYFUL)

GLADNESS

EXCITEMENT

SADNESS (DEPRESSED, SAD, UNHAPPY)

PAIN

ANGER

PRIDE

GUILT..

SADNESS

EXCITEMENT..

MAIN POSITIVE EMOTIONS

MAIN NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

HEDONIC SELF CONSCIOUS

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POSITIVE & NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

Harmon-Jones et al. (2011), The expression of determination, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 100(1), 172-181.

HAPPINESS CONSTRUCTION

Narratives, Diaries, Videos…

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Costley et al. (2007), Happiness, Consumption and Being, Consumer Culture Theory, Vol. 11, 209-240.

HAPPINESS CONSTRUCTION

EXPLORATORY STUDY with Spanish students (20 students / 80 pictures

and text related to last purchases that made them happy and why)

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HAPPINESS CONSTRUCTION

EXAMPLE WITH Spanish students (20 students / 80 pictures and text)

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With and for oneself

With and for the others

Calm

Exitement

Feel

Esthetic

Stimulation

Play

Humor

Creativity

Conscious

Health

Authenticity

Participate

Projects

Sharing

PROJECT 3.

MODERATORS OF CONSUMER HAPPINESS

SOCIAL CONTEXT

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World Happiness Report, 2015

SOCIAL CONTEXT

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ECONOMIC CONTEXT

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ECONOMIC CONTEXT

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ECONOMIC CONTEXT

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Source: Hsee, Yang, Li and Shen (2009), Wealth, Warmth and Well-Being, Journal of Marketing Research, June.

DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT

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World Happiness Report, 2015

CULTURAL CONTEXT

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World Happiness Report, 2015

CULTURAL CONTEXT

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World Happiness Report, 2015

CULTURAL CONTEXT

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World Happiness Report, 2015

THANK YOU !

http://happymgmt.eu/