Morewedge, C. K., Gilbert, D. T., Keysar, B., Berkovits, M. J., &Wilson, T. D. (2007). Mispredicting the hedonic benefits of segregated gains.

The hedonic benefit of a gain (e.g., receiving $100) may be increased by segregating it into smaller units that are distributed over time (e.g., receiving $50 on each of 2 days). However, if these units are too small (e.g., receiving 1 cent on each of 10,000 days), they may fall beneath the person’s hedonic limen …

Dunn, E. W., Biesanz, J. C., Human, L. J., &Finn, S. (2007). Misunderstanding the affective consequences of everyday social interactions: The hidden benefits of putting one& #39;s best face forward.

Positive self-presentation may have beneficial consequences for mood that are typically overlooked. Across a series of studies, participants underestimated how good they would feel in situations that required them to put their best face forward. In Studies 1 and 2A, participants underestimated the emotional benefits of interacting with an opposite sex stranger versus the benefits …

Aron, A., Norman, C. C., Aron, E. N., McKenna, C., &Heyman, R. E. (2000). Couples& #39; shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality.

Using a newspaper questionnaire, a door-to-door survey, and 3 laboratory experiments, the authors examined a proposed effect of shared participation in novel and arousing activities on experienced relationship quality. The questionnaire and survey studies found predicted correlations of reported shared “exciting” activities and relationship satisfaction plus their predicted mediation by relationship boredom. In all 3 …

Rozin, P., Kabnick, K., Pete, E., Fischler, C., &Shields, C. (2003). The ecology of eating: smaller portion sizes in France than in the United States help explain the French paradox.

Part of the “French paradox” can be explained by the fact that the French eat less than Americans. We document that French portion sizes are smaller in comparable restaurants, in the sizes of individual portions of foods (but not other items) in supermarkets, in portions specified in cookbooks, and in the prominence of “all you …

Kivetz, R., &Simonson, I. (2002). Earning the right to indulge: Effort as a determinant of customer preferences toward frequency program rewards.

Although frequency programs (FPs) have become ubiquitous in the marketplace and a key marketing-mix tool for promoting customer relationship and loyalty, little is known about the factors that determine how such programs are evaluated by consumers. The authors investigate the impact of the level of effort participants must invest to obtain the reward on the …

Xu, J., &Schwarz, N. (2009). Do we really need a reason to indulge?. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), 25-36.

The authors document consistent discrepancies among consumers’ predicted, actual, and remembered feelings related to indulgence episodes and conceptualize the underlying processes. Consistent with previous research, consumers expect more negative and less positive feelings when they indulge without a reason than when they indulge with a reason (Study 1) or when they indulge as a consolation …

Hsee, C. K. (1999). Value seeking and prediction-decision inconsistency: Why don’t people take what they predict they’ll like the most?.Psychonomic Bulletin &Review, 6(4), 555-561.

In this research, it is proposed that, when making a choice between consumption goods, people do not just think about which option will deliver the highest consumption utility but also think about which choice is most consistent with rationales—beliefs about how they should make decisions. The present article examines a specific rationale, value seeking. The …

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., &Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion. science, 312(5782), 1908-1910.

The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory. People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities. Moreover, the effect of income on …

Kasser, T., &Sheldon, K. M. (2009). Time affluence as a path toward personal happiness and ethical business practice: Empirical evidence from four studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(2), 243-255.

Many business practices focus on maximizing material affluence, or wealth, despite the fact that a growing empirical literature casts doubt on whether money can buy happiness. We therefore propose that businesses consider the possibility of “time affluence” as an alternative model for improving employee well-being and ethical business practice. Across four studies, results consistently showed …