A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Emotional Correlates of Experiential and Material Purchases

A large body of research suggests that spending money on experiential products (e.g., traveling) compared to material products (e.g., clothing) is associated with more positive psychological outcomes. This effect, however, has rarely been tested beyond Western samples. To address this gap, we set out to evaluate the experiential advantage in samples from four countries (US, Iran, Malaysia, and Poland). Results demonstrate that spending money on experiential products is positively associated with both self- and other-focused positive emotions, but the effect sizes vary across cultures. Furthermore, regardless of the experiential-material distinction, the social (vs. solitary) nature of the purchase is robustly associated with positive outcomes. These findings suggest that, while the overall experiential advantage replicates beyond the usual North American samples, the specific positive outcomes and the effect sizes might vary by culture.