TV Channels, Self Control and Happiness

Christine Benesch (), Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer

Working papers from Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel

Abstract: In many countries, TV viewers have access to more and more TV channels. We study whether people can cope with this and watch the amount of TV they find optimal for themselves or whether they are prone to over-consumption. We find that heavy TV viewers do not benefit, but instead report lower life satisfaction when exposed to more TV channels. This finding runs counter to the standard economic prediction that a larger choice set does not make people worse off. It suggests that an identifiable group of persons experience a self-control problem when it comes to TV viewing.

Keywords: Self-control; over-consumption; life satisfaction; experienced utility; TV viewing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D91 I31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-07-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Related works:
Journal Article: TV Channels, Self-Control and Happiness (2010)
Working Paper: TV Channels, Self Control and Happiness (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2006/05

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