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“Experiential purchases make better stories than material purchases.”

-Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton, Happy Money

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Experiences create emotional value before, during, and after the moment. That’s why they so often outperform material purchases.

Spending Shapes a Client’s Emotions and Satisfaction

It’s now common to hear that people should “buy experiences, not things.” Minimalism, sustainability movements, and shifting generational preferences have all pushed this idea forward.

But advisors need more than cultural intuition. We need to understand why experiences typically provide greater and more lasting satisfaction than material purchases.

The answer lies in the psychology of spending and the way clients move through three stages of every purchase: anticipation, the experience itself, and the memory that remains.

The Three Psychological Stages of Every Purchase

Spending is not a single moment.

Every purchase includes:

1. Anticipation: looking forward to the experience
2. The Experience: the real-time moment of consumption or use
3. Memory: the story a client tells afterward

Behavioral economists and psychologists both show that these phases shape well-being in different ways, and they explain why experiences typically outperform things.

Experience: Why Enjoyment in the Moment Isn’t the Whole Story

Most clients assume that the “experience” phase is where the value lies; the moment when they use the product or enjoy the event.

An experience can be:

• A conversation, a walk, or a hike
• A vacation
• Even the purchase and setup of a new item

And here’s a surprising finding: in the moment, people often enjoy material things and experiences at very similar levels.

This is why the experience phase alone can’t explain the well-known gap in long-term satisfaction. We need to look at the other two phases.

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Anticipation: Why Looking Forward Creates Real Emotional Value

Anticipation is a powerful, often overlooked contributor to well-being.

Clients experience real joy from looking forward to something, and this applies to both things and experiences. Behavioral economists refer to this as anticipatory utility: the emotional value we gain before anything actually happens.

Here are a couple of implications for client behavior:

• Delayed gratification increases anticipatory enjoyment.
• Impulsive spending eliminates the anticipation phase entirely.

Anticipation is equal opportunity, but experiences have an advantage because the next phase, memory, is far more favorable to them.

Memory: How Experiences Continue to Grow in Value Over Time

Memory is the stage that lasts the longest and shapes how clients evaluate whether something was “worth it.”

Here’s why experiences outperform things:

• Memories amplify joy through euphoric recall. People tend to remember the emotional highlights and downplay the hassles, a well-documented cognitive tendency.
• Experiences often involve other people. Human connection is one of the strongest predictors of meaning and well-being. Clients rarely bond over a product the way they bond over shared experiences.
• Material goods depreciate, psychologically and socially. Stuff becomes outdated quickly. Clients constantly compare what they own to what others have, which undermines satisfaction.
• Memories improve over time; possessions do not. Clients forget the hassles of the trip, but they never forget how it felt to be together.

The memory phase is where experiences produce lasting, compounding returns.

Helping Clients Spend in Ways That Create Lasting Well-Being

Clients will always need certain material goods, and those purchases can absolutely be satisfying. But when clients have discretion over how to allocate resources, experiences typically deliver more enduring value because they generate:

• anticipatory joy
• meaningful real-time engagement
• memories that deepen over time

Advisors can use this framework to help clients design spending plans that align dollars with well-being, not just in the moment, but across the full arc of anticipation, experience, and memory.

FAQ: Why Experiences Deliver More Value Than Things

Why do experiences typically bring more satisfaction than material purchases?

Experiences create emotional value across anticipation, the event itself, and the memories that remain. Material goods usually deliver value only in the moment of use.

What is anticipatory utility?

Anticipatory utility is the well-being clients gain before a purchase. Looking forward to an event often creates more joy than the experience itself.

Do clients enjoy experiences more in the moment?

Surprisingly, momentary enjoyment of things and experiences is often similar. The difference in long-term satisfaction comes from anticipation and memory.

Why are memories stronger for experiences than for things?

Experiences age well because they generate stories, involve other people, and improve through euphoric recall. Material goods depreciate both physically and psychologically.

How can advisors help clients spend in ways that improve well-being?

Advisors can guide clients to consider all three stages of spending and allocate discretionary dollars toward experiences that create anticipation, connection, and lasting memories.

Want to Learn More?

Money Quotient trains financial professionals in the True Wealth process and helps them implement the concepts into their practices. The first step is to learn about the Fundamentals of True Wealth Planning.

References and Influences

Ariely, Dan & Jeff Kreisler: Dollars and Sense

Budd, Chris: The Financial Wellbeing Book

Clements, Jonathan: How to Think About Money

Dunn, Elizabeth & Michael Norton: Happy Money

Gilbert, Daniel: Stumbling on Happiness

Hagen, Derek: Your Money, Your Values, and Your Life

Haidt, Jonathan: The Happiness Hypothesis