Money can't buy love.Expensive weddings = higher divorce rate. Why? Well perhaps it's due to the hedonic treadmill. |
The hedonic treadmill refers to the constant pursuit of happiness and the belief that material possessions will bring that happiness. However, as we acquire more material possessions or experiences, the happiness they bring becomes fleeting and short-lived. The same principle can be applied to expensive weddings. Many couples believe that an extravagant wedding will bring them happiness and a strong foundation for their marriage. They invest thousands of dollars into the wedding day, from the venue and catering to the dress and decorations. However, studies have shown that the more money spent on a wedding, the higher the divorce rate. Correlation does not = causation, but maybe there's something in this.
Cheers, Phill Agnew |
I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.
Concrete Phrases Read online Which electric bus would stick in your mind? It's not even a competition. Copy that's easy to visualise is easy to memorise. In 2021, Richard Shotton¹ showed participants a number of vague phrases, like 'innovative quality', and then some concrete phrases, e.g., 'money in your pocket'. Shotton’s concrete phrases were 8.6x more likely to be remembered. Richard Shotton's Concrete Phrases Study He’d proved the concrete phrases' effect, a phenomenon first discovered...
Psychology of Pricing Read online 1) Charm Pricing for High-Quality Products Imagine you’re buying a shatterproof iPhone case Does it matter if it is priced at £49.99 or £49.95? Well, yes. Apple uses charm pricing but usually ends prices with a 5. Gendall, Fox, and Wilton (1998)¹ ran an experiment with fast-moving consumer goods (fly spray, cheese) and durables (electric kettles). They found that prices with endings in 99 cents are more attractive for low-priced, fast-moving consumer goods...
Unit Asking Read online Which of these articles encouraged Brits to donate more? It's the one on the right. Research by Christopher Hsee¹ found that donors gave nearly twice as much when first asked to consider the needs of a single person before being asked to donate to a larger cause. This “unit asking” strategy made contributions feel more reasonable and personal. And it explains this² rather bizarre study: The study looked at the success rate of donation requests on the...