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Luxury car owners are not happier than frugal car owners

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  • Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn
  • Tim Nash
  • Natasha Tursi

Abstract

The happiness literature has largely omitted the topic of consumption so far. While some studies investigate the most expensive consumption item, housing, there are no studies about the second most expensive item, the car. We use 2011 wave of American Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate the relationship between car consumption and happiness. Car consumption is defined in two ways, as luxury cars (expensive cars, >$35k) and frugal cars (inexpensive cars). We find that luxury car ownership does not make people happier than frugal car ownership. We discuss the practical implications of our findings and directions for future research. This study is limited to the USA, and results may differ elsewhere. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn & Tim Nash & Natasha Tursi, 2015. "Luxury car owners are not happier than frugal car owners," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(2), pages 121-141, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:inrvec:v:62:y:2015:i:2:p:121-141
    DOI: 10.1007/s12232-015-0223-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Gaël Brulé & Laura Ravazzini & Christian Suter, 2022. "The Rolling 50s (and More): Cars and Life Satisfaction Among Seniors Across Europe," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 185-204, February.
    2. Biyalogorsky, Eyal & Heiman, Amir & Muller, Eitan, 2022. "The differential effects of time and usage on the brand premiums of automobiles," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 212-226.
    3. Choung, Youngjoo & Pak, Tae-Young & Chatterjee, Swarn, 2021. "Consumption and Life Satisfaction: The Korean Evidence," MPRA Paper 115765, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Luca Stanca & Ruut Veenhoven, 2015. "Consumption and happiness: an introduction," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(2), pages 91-99, June.
    5. Kumar, Bipul & Bagozzi, Richard P. & Manrai, Ajay K. & Manrai, Lalita A., 2022. "Conspicuous consumption: A meta-analytic review of its antecedents, consequences, and moderators," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 471-485.
    6. Fengyu Wu, 2020. "An Examination of the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in Australia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2735-2771, December.
    7. Zhen Cui, 2018. "Happiness and consumption: evidence from China," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(4), pages 403-419, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Happiness; Life satisfaction; Subjective well-being; Car; Conspicuous consumption; Luxury consumption; I31; E21;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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