To do or to have? That is the question.

By L. Van Boven, Thomas Gilovich. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003

1,105 citations recorded by the source corpus.

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/85844562e67d74f1b134ce9ad86f7650d55e5436

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Citations in the corpus

Failing to commit: Maximizers avoid commitment in a way that contributes to reduced satisfaction (2012, positive): “People tend to be more satisfied with purchases of experiences (e.g., vacations) than purchases of material goods (e.g. cell phones) (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).”
How Happiness Affects Choice (2011, positive): “…best measures of happiness, ways to increase happiness, and why happiness is important (Diener and Chan 2011; Diener and Seligman 2002; Dunn, Aknin, and Norton 2008; Easterlin 2003; Kahneman et al. 2004, 2006; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade 2005; Mogilner 2010; Van Boven and Gilovich 2003).”
On the relations among work value orientations, psychological need satisfaction and job outcomes: A self-determination theory approach. (2007, background): “However, adopting an ‘outward’ (Williams, Cox, Hedberg, & Deci, 2000) or ‘having’ orientation (Fromm, 1976; Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003) is likely to detract from psychological health because such an orientation thwarts the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs (Niemiec, Ryan & Deci, 2006).”
Consumer Well-Being: Effects of Subgoal Failures and Goal Importance (2014, background): “The easyto-visualize endgoal also affects social well-being; research has shown that spending money to acquire a life experience, rather than material possessions, can make people happier (Van Boven and Gilovich 2003).”
Making a Difference Matters: Impact Unlocks the Emotional Benefits of Prosocial Spending (2013, positive): “This was the goal of Study 2, which used a spending recollection paradigm; this strategy has been utilized successfully in previous research studying the emotional consequences of real-world spending (e.g., Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).”
If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right (2011, background): “Van Boven and Gilovich (2003) defined experiential purchases as those “made with the primary intention of acquiring a life experience: an event or series of events that one lives through,” while defining material purchases as those “made with the primary intention of acquiring a material good: a tan”
The Impact of Status Seeking on Consumers’ Word of Mouth and Product Preference—A Comparison Between Luxury Hospitality Services and Luxury Goods (2017, background): “Van Boven, L., Campbell, M. C., & Gilovich, T. (2010).”
A wonderful life: experiential consumption and the pursuit of happiness (2015, methodology): “The distinction between material and experiential purchases was introduced by Van Boven and Gilovich (2003), who defined the former as “spending money with the primary intention of acquiring a material possession – a tangible object that you obtain and keep in your possession” and the latter as…”
Are long commutes short on benefits? Commute duration and various manifestations of well-being (2018, background): “For example, research has shown that people overweight the contributions possessions make to their well-being and underweight the positive contribution of experiences (Carter and Gilovich, 2010; Howell and Hill, 2009; van Boven and Gilovich, 2003).”