Consumer Choice and Happiness: A Comparison of the United States and Spain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between decision-making styles and well-being in two different cultures, the United States and Spain. Surveys were administered to 55 participants in Spain and 97 participants in the United States. Participants completed survey measures that assessed maximizing tendencies, the tendency to experience regret, subjective happiness, positive and negative affect, and decision-making tendencies (pre-purchase product comparison, post-purchase product comparison, pre-purchase social comparison, post-purchase social comparison, consumer regret and counterfactual thinking). The findings showed that there were no significant differences between countries with respect to the number of people with maximizing tendencies, although maximizers were found to experience significantly more regret in both countries. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between negative affect and decision-making tendencies, and a relationship between decision-making tendencies and maximizing tendencies in both countries. Spaniards were found to experience more positive affect and less negative affect than their American counterparts. In addition, Americans who did not own a credit card experienced less regret than Spaniards who did not own a credit card. Practical implications for decision-making tendencies and well-being and suggestions for future research are discussed. CHOICE AND HAPPINESS 3 Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Stuart Vyse for his support. His patience, knowledge and dedication are more than I could have asked for. Thank you so much for spending countless hours doing data crunching, replying my constant stream of emails and revising so many drafts of my thesis. I am very grateful to have you as my mentor and friend, and without your help I would not have been able to complete this. You are the best advisor! Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Ann Sloan Devlin for her advice, encouragement and extensive knowledge of the APA format. I really appreciate you giving me back my drafts in such a timely manner and your commitment to the highest standards made me strive to produce only the best work. I would further like to thank Professor Lawrence Vogel for making me question my conceptualization of happiness and inspiring me to think outside the box. Thirdly, I want to thank Ashley Hanson, who helped me with my research, and also for being so supportive throughout the years. Your guidance and encouragement taught me that I can achieve my goals if I do things one step at a time. I am also grateful to all the members of the behavioral economics research group for their support and encouragement throughout the process. I would also like to thank CISLA for helping me fund and complete this study. Finally I would like to thank my family and friends. Aaliya – your advice and encouragement was comforting and has taught me so much about sacrifice, discipline and compromise. And lastly, I would like to say a big thank you to Lizzy Schwartz and Tiffany Wong thanks for your constant support, encouragement, and keeping me sane. CHOICE AND HAPPINESS 4

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