Hedonics in Consumer Behavior

Hsee, Christopher K.; Tsai, Claire I.

Hedonics in Consumer Behavior

HANDBOOK OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, C. P. Haugtvedt, P. M. Herr, and F. R. Kardes, eds., PP. 639-658, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2008

20 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2010 Last revised: 2 Sep 2010

See all articles by Christopher K. Hsee

Christopher K. Hsee

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Claire I. Tsai

University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management

Date Written: July 24, 2007

Abstract

To maximize happiness, one could either improve desired external outcomes (e.g., wealth) or optimize the relationship between desired external outcome and happiness without improving the outcome per se. Economics focuses on the first method. The present chapter advocates a science about the second method, which we term hedonomics. With its objective to help individuals, including consumers and policymakers, make decisions that maximize their happiness with external outcomes, hedonomics focuses on the relationships (a) between external outcomes and happiness, and (b) between decision and happiness.

Keywords: Subjective Well-Being, Consumption Experience, Behavior Decision Research, Hedonomics

JEL Classification: D81, D11, D12, D91

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Hsee, Christopher K. and Tsai, Claire I., Hedonics in Consumer Behavior (July 24, 2007). HANDBOOK OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, C. P. Haugtvedt, P. M. Herr, and F. R. Kardes, eds., PP. 639-658, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1667555