Financial Success and the Good Life: What have We Learned from Empirical Studies in Psychology?

An empirical study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (King, L. A. and C. K. Nappa: 1998, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75(1), 156–165) concludes that people generally believe meaning and happiness are essential elements of the good life, whereas money is relatively unimportant. Yet, the authors also state that although “we do know what it takes to make a good life...we still behave as if we did not.” The authors are suggesting that despite a general belief that money is relatively unimportant in creating happiness, many people continue to focus their behaviors on increasing income and wealth. This is the classic conflict between the folk wisdom that money cannot buy happiness, on the one hand, and a continued focus by many people on achieving material success on the other. The issue is of particular importance to business professionals, not only because profit maximization is the central focus of business, but also because college students often pursue business as a profession for the express purpose of maximizing personal income and wealth. In the business world a focus on personal financial success is the norm. Wealth and income are honored. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze psychological studies comparing happiness and financial success. The results are then contrasted with philosophical wisdom and religious writings comparing happiness and money. The intent is to determine whether psychological studies provide incremental insights into the connection between financial success and happiness. Kent Swift PhD, is a professor in the College of Business Sciences at Zayed University. He has been teaching business at both the undergraduate and graduate level in science 1978, and he has published articles on a variety of business topics. Dr. Swift received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.     

Susceptibility to Advertising and Perceived Friend Norms: A Meta-Analysis of Materialism in Youths “Meta-Analysis of Materialism in Youths”

This study presents a meta-analysis assessing the antecedents that are associated with the influence that advertising and friends' behaviours have on the formation of materialistic behaviours in youth. We carried out a systematic review in which we identified an initial 217 studies. Of these, 32 were ultimately included in the analysis. Our results revealed significant relationships for the constructs associated directly with susceptibility to advertising (advertising viewing attitudes, attention to advertising, celebrity endorsements in advertising, advertising exposure and TV viewing frequency) and for perceived friends' norms (friends' attitudes, social comparisons with friends and communication with friends) with materialism in youth.     

Not worth the risk? Applying life history theory to understand rejection of the experiential recommendation

ABSTRACT

Despite mounting support documenting the long-term benefits of consuming experiences versus material possessions, some consumers appear to reject the ‘experiential recommendation.’ Applying a life history theory perspective, we conducted seven studies to examine how unpredictability and harshness during childhood may translate into a decreased propensity to consume novel experiences in adulthood. Adults who experienced unpredictable and harsh childhood environments tended to devalue experiential options (studies 1A and 1B). A perceived lack of control over one’s life outcomes that translates into greater difficulty in evaluating experiential opportunities mediated the relationship between childhood background and devaluing experiential options (studies 3, 4A–C). Furthermore, prior or incidental experience with novel experiential options moderated the link between perceived lack of control over life outcomes and difficulty evaluating experiential purchase options (study 4B).     

Well-being Marketing: An Ethical Business Philosophy for Consumer Goods Firms

In this article we build on the program of research in well-being marketing by further conceptualizing and refining the conceptual domain of the concept of consumer well-being (CWB). We then argue that well-being marketing is a business philosophy grounded in business ethics. We show how this philosophy is an ethical extension of relationship marketing (stakeholder theory in business ethics) and is superior to transactional marketing (a business philosophy grounded in the principles of consumer sovereignty). Additionally, we argue that well-being marketing is based on duty ethics concepts, specifically the duty of beneficence and non-maleficence. Subsequently, we show how the well-being concept guides marketing decisions for consumer goods firms.     

劳动经济学的实验研究方法

在过去的几十年中,实验研究方法在经济学特别是劳动经济学领域中的应用呈稳步增加的态势。较之于其他实证研究方法,实验研究方法的优势主要在于能够对相关影响因素进行更为严格的控制,并能可靠地预测变量之间的因果关系,同时实验本身具有的可重复性也使研究结论更易于验证。目前学术界仍存在着一些反对实验研究方法的意见,如实验被试的选择偏差,被试所获得的支付水平的高低,观测的数目以及内、外部有效性等。     

Revisiting the Concept of a Societal Orientation: Conceptualization and Delineation

Marketers have traditionally evaluated products and practices on the basis of whether something could be sold. It is also important to evaluate products and practices from a societal perspective, “Should a product be sold?” The first idea reflects a managerial orientation and what must be done to sell a product; the second idea reflects a societal orientation and the impact of selling a product. In relation to the second idea, the societal marketing concept was introduced in 1972. There has been little advancement in our understanding of a societal orientation since that time. The current study presents a conceptualization of a societal orientation based on a review of literature and qualitative interviews. The construct was conceptualized as “attention to the long-term well-being of individuals and society at large by enhancing positive impacts from and reducing negative effects associated with production and consumption of a product.” Five domains comprising a societal orientation are proposed: physical consequences, psychological well-being, social relationships, economic contribution, and environmental consciousness.     

基于消费者运动的社会营销学研究及其启示

本文认为,20世纪美国消费者运动风起云涌,推动了政府的立法活动和营销学研究,其研究主要集中于消费者运动的经验研究,营销实践的购买者观点,营销观念的实践,营销道德研究,营销和广告对消费者的影响等方面,并逐渐出现了两个重要趋势,即研究更加现实和开始思考在组织结构中采用道德训练、管理事例和鼓励措施,以激励道德行为。文章提出,我国基于消费者运动的社会营销学研究重点,一是弱势群体方面的研究;二是审视营销观念的实践;三是中国特色营销道德的研究;四是消费者保护的经验研究;五是消费者满意、不满意方面的研究;六是营销和广告的社会影响研究。     

消费者生活方式与物质主义价值观的相关性研究

本文主要研究生活方式与物质主义价值观的相关关系。基于495位消费者的问卷调查数据,借助因子分析方法,探索出11个生活方式因子,利用这11个因子进行聚类分析,将调查样本划分为5个子市场。随后,用方差分析法分析得出结果：5个子市场在物质主义价值观上有显著性差异,并用最小显著差异法进行两两比较,确认了具有不同生活方式的消费者在物质主义价值观上的差别。