Experience for Me, Material for You: Consumers Underestimate the Experiential Advantage for Others (vs. Self)

Despite evidence suggesting the hedonic benefits of experiential purchases over material purchases, consumers continue to buy material goods for others. For instance, consumers predominantly choose to give material gifts, despite the social and hedonic benefits of giving experiential gifts. Why are consumers not making more experiential purchases for others? Do they fail to predict the experiential advantage for others (vs. themselves)? We examine these questions and propose an asymmetry in how consumers perceive others' materialism compared to themselves, which results in consumers' underestimation of the experiential advantage for others (vs. themselves). Our research builds on the better-than-average effect, which demonstrates that people are motivated to evaluate themselves more favorably relative to others. In sum, the current research identifies a sell-other bias towards materialism perceptions, whereby consumers feel that others are more materialistic than themselves. This effect leads consumers to mistakenly underestimate the experiential advantages tor others relative to the self, leading consumers to choose more material purchases for others. The results provide important practical and theoretical implications for gift giving, perceptions of materialism of others, and experiential consumption.