Experiências do processo de consumo e o experienciar da felicidade

Abstract

Some studies have already analyzed what makes individuals achieve happiness. In the consumer behavior perspective, experiential consumption, which refers to the interaction between the consumer and the product or service during the purchase or consumption, is more closely related to the welfare and happiness than material consumption – the later related to good’s possession. However, there have been few studies analyzing the relationship between shopping or consumption experiences and happiness. In this sense, the general objective of this paper is to analyze the happiness in the experiences of purchase and consumption. In order to achieve that, two quantitative studies were conducted based on a survey and an experimental design. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and ANOVA were used to analyze data. Results indicate that the hedonic values drive the individual experience of purchasing and consuming towards happiness. In addition, they show that extraordinary experiences lead the individual to higher levels of happiness than ordinary ones.