Sentimental Consumption and Sensible Consumption: Comparison of Consumption Attitudes and Consumption Happiness

Abstract

This study examined the effects of considered attributes when purchase on consumption attitudes and consumption happiness as well as compared the effects for sensible consumption and sentimental consumption. Data was collected from 373 consumers in 20s and 30s from November 15th to 20th in 2017. IBM SPSS 25.0 was used for basic statistical analyses and for paired t-tests, and lavaan 0.6-3 package and semTools package in R 3.3.3(2017- 03-06) was used for structural equation modeling. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, there were almost no differences in product types between sentimental consumption and sensible consumption. Second, consumption attitudes toward sensible consumption were more positive than sensible consumption; however consumption happiness from sentimental consumption was higher than from sensible consumption. Third, considered attributes when making purchases were divided into subjective, objective, and symbolic with the effects of these attributes on consumption attitudes and consumption happiness analyzed by structural equation modeling. Regardless of sentimental or sensible consumption, objective selection attributes have a positive effect on consumption attitude, but subjective selection attributes have a positive effect on consumption happiness. This study implies that sentimental consumption has a positive value for contemporary consumers and that it should be counted as a feasible consumption activity to enhance consumption happiness. Keywords: sentimental consumption, sensible consumption, consumption attitude, consumption happiness