Do happy people shop more? A replication–extension field study on spending

Evan Polman ()
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Evan Polman: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Marketing Letters, 2025, vol. 36, issue 4, No 21, 1029-1040

Abstract: Abstract The Wall Street Journal published an article with the headline, “How Do You Keep The Public Shopping? Just Make People Sad.” Upon reading the article, we found people mistakenly interpreted its conclusion—believing that if sad people spend more, then happy people spend less. Yet, would happy people spend less? According to research by Babin and Darden (1996), the answer is “no.” In fact, Babin and Darden found that happy people spent more money on goods and services. To shed extra light on this issue, we tested a conceptual replication of Babin and Darden’s study by investigating real-life shopping. Specifically, we gave 307 participants each $10 and instructed them to buy something wherever and however they pleased. We found that happier participants spent more money. Thus, we replicated Babin and Darden’s research and found that the positive association between happiness and spending remains strong 30 years later.

Keywords: Happiness; Spending; Shopping; Field study; Replication study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-025-09794-2

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