Experiences vs Stuff

Posted by Beetle B. on Wed 23 January 2019

Because of hedonic adaptation, don’t invest too much in stuff - especially long lasting stuff. Things that stick around and don’t change are not likely to give you consistent pleasure.

Instead, invest in experiences. It goes away, leaving room for newer experiences. If you invest $100 in an experience, vs $100 in an object, and are asked some years later to rank them by happiness, you’ll typically rank the experience more.

This is true even if you are low income and don’t have stuff. The delta between the two is a lot smaller, but you still value experiences more. Even before purchasing, you get more pleased by thinking about the experience than about the stuff.

Again, the annoying feature rears its ugly head. When asked in advance whether they are wasting the money, they’re more likely going to say the spending for the experience is a waste. But both 2 and 4 weeks after the event, they list it as better in terms of the money being well spent.

Talking to people about your things vs your experiences: Those who talk about things are more likely to have negative adjectives associated with them.

Finally, experiences are more likely to be unique, so they are less susceptible to comparisons.