The beach, the bikini, and the best buy: Replies to Dunn and Weidman, and to Schmitt, Brakus, and Zarantonello

Thomas Gilovich, Amit Kumar, Lily Jampol

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2015 · Volume 25 · Issue 1

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2014.09.002

Abstract

We reply to commentaries onGilovich, Kumar & Jampol (2015--in this issue)byDunn & Weidman (2015-in this issue)andSchmitt, Brakus and Zarantonello (2015-in this issue). We argue that the distinction between material and experiential purchases is meaningful and important, that experiences can be bought, and that our comparisons of the two have not been confounded by factors such as significance, importance, purchase price, or subjective appeal. We further discuss the potential limitations of populations from which we have sampled, and differences in consumer satisfaction across different time frames. We conclude by embracing the fact that our program of research has generated many open questions and by welcoming further empirical attempts to understand the psychological processes and hedonic consequences that attend these two types of purchases.

Keywords

Experiential consumption, Well-being, Materialism, Happiness

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