Advertising and media across cultures: a detailed look at wellbeing effects

Namho Kim, Alexander Pastukhov and Astrid Schütz

International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2026, vol. 10, issue 3, 229-257

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between advertising spending and three dimensions of subjective well-being (SWB): life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. While the association between advertising spending and life satisfaction showed mixed results, advertising spending demonstrated consistent positive correlations with affective well-being. Our findings reveal that cultural dimensions and national wealth moderate these relationships. In societies with stronger long-term orientation, advertising spending had weaker associations with all affective well-being measures. In less economically developed countries, advertising showed stronger relationships with affective well-being, potentially due to its entertainment value. Channel-specific analysis indicated that advertising through entertainment-focused media (magazines, cinema) positively correlated with affective well-being, while unavoidable advertising exposure (out-of-home, television) showed negative correlations. These findings suggest that advertising's impact on well-being depends on cultural context, economic development, and advertising channels, highlighting the complex relationship between consumerism, advertising, and SWB.

Keywords: SWB; subjective well-being; happiness; life satisfaction; emotional well-being; advertising; culture; determinants of SWB; DAG; directed acyclic graph. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijhdev:v:10:y:2026:i:3:p:229-257

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