That long line at the TKTS booth is suddenly a lot more appealing.
Waiting to purchase an experience makes people happier than waiting to buy a new material item, concludes a new series of studies published in the journal Psychological Science.
The authors — from Cornell University, University of California-Berkeley and University of California-San Francisco — called their study “Waiting for Merlot.” It builds on previous research that spending money on doing things makes people happier than spending money on having things.
In one study, college students had to think about a purchase they were about to make — either an experience or an item — and report how they felt waiting. People waiting for an experience were more excited than those waiting for an object. Those waiting for an item were also more impatient.
In another study, 2,000 people logged onto trackyourhappiness.org to report how they were feeling throughout the day. The people daydreaming about an experience they were about to purchase once again were happier than those thinking about an object they would soon buy.
In their other studies, the researchers looked at newspaper articles about people waiting in lines and found that those in line for an experience — a concert, say — were on better behavior than those waiting to buy something, like a new iPhone. And people recalling times they spent in anticipation found waits for experiences more pleasant than waits for new things.
“Consumers derive value from anticipation, and that value tends to be greater for experiential than for material purchases,” the authors said in a statement.