In the past, I have written about ways to spend money to
make yourself happier. One general rule
that comes from research by Tom Gilovich and his colleagues is that it is
better to buy experiences than to buy objects.
That is, if you spend big bucks on a trip to Mexico, you are likely to feel
better about that purchase in the long run than if you spend the same amount on
clothes.
A paper by Emily Rosenzweig and Tom Gilovich in the
February, 2012 issue of the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology shows that an important reason for this
difference is that experiences and stuff lead to different kinds of
regrets.
When you buy an object, like a computer, you may experience
buyer’s remorse. That is, soon after
buying it, you may regret buying that particular computer, because you could
have bought another one (or something else entirely). You are much less likely to regret buying an
experience. Think about a big concert
going in on your town. You are more
likely to regret passing up the opportunity to go to the concert than you are
to regret buying a ticket to go.
Why is this?
In one study, Rosenzweig and Gilovich examined the uniqueness
of objects and experiences. One big
reason why people regret buying objects is that after they own the object, they
can continue to compare it to other objects that are available. You buy a computer, and a month later, you
find another one that is faster, smaller, and cheaper. So, now you feel like you didn’t get a good
deal. When you go on a vacation, though,
that experience is relatively unique. It
is hard to compare a particular trip to Mexico with other trips you might
have taken, and so you spend less time comparing your experience to other things
you might have done.
Indeed, in one study in this paper, participants listed
specific purchases they had made of objects or experiences. People listing objects felt that their
purchases were interchangeable with other objects. People listing experiences felt that their
purchases were unique. In addition, the
more interchangeable the objects, the more that people were likely to regret
making a purchase.
Looking at regret in this way also suggests two ways to
avoid regret from purchases. First, if
you are going to make a significant purchase of an object, try to make it
something unique. In another study in
the paper, participants were asked to imagine a purchase of an object that was
either fairly common (a dresser) or unique (a particular antique dresser). In this case, participants were much more
likely to regret buying the common dresser, but to regret not buying a unique
dresser. Other participants imagined buying
a plane ticket to a common experience (their yearly family reunion) or to a
unique experience (the first ever family reunion). For this experience, the same pattern
held. People were more likely to regret
buying the ticket to the yearly reunion, and to regret not buying the ticket
for the first-ever reunion.
The second way to avoid buyer’s regret is to find objects
that can be treated as experiences. Many
objects have an experience component to them.
If you buy an expensive car, for example, you can treat it as an object
or you can savor the experience of owning and driving the car. Indeed, car makers like BMW focus on the
driving experience as a way of making the car feel unique.
As support for this view, a final study had people think
about two friends, Mark and Joe who were each considering buying a 3d
television. Ultimately, Mark bought the
TV and Joe did not. For one group, the
description of the TV focused on the object itself. For another group, the description focused on
the experience of having a third dimension when watching TV and sharing that
with friends. The group that was focused
on the TV as an object assumed that Mark (who bought the TV) would regret the
decision more than Joe (who did not). In
contrast, the group that was focused on the experience thought that Joe (who
passed on the TV) would regret the choice more than Mark (who bought it).
Obviously, you have to buy a certain number of objects in
your life just to survive. But if you
have some extra money around and are looking for a way to spend it to increase
your happiness, then you should buy experiences. And whenever you can, you should think about
the great experiences you can have with the objects you buy.
