Analyzing the Subjective Nature of Happiness

Does Consumerism Lead to Happiness?

Today, the concept of happiness has assumed new importance and relevance as the United Nations’ World Happiness Report continues to publish annual rankings of countries according to the quantified happiness levels of their citizenry (Chaudhary 2023). To determine the facts about this Report and its broad implications, the purpose of this paper is to develop informed and timely answers to the questions, “Will consumerism lead to happiness?” and “Is supply and demand the main problem of consumerism?” Although the concept of happiness is massively subjective and the answers to these questions will invariably depend on who is being asked, it is possible to answer these questions based on the objective criteria that is used to formulate the World Happiness Report and by operationalizing the terms “happiness,” “consumerism” and “supply and demand,” an enterprise that represents the purpose of this paper. Following this analysis, the paper provides a summary of what was found in the relevant literature to develop an informed answer to these guiding research questions.

Review and Analysis

The Global Happiness Report is published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and ranks countries based on factors such as life expectancy, social support, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, perceptions of corruption, and other variables. The top countries on the Report tend to have high life expectancy, income, social support, freedom, and trust in government. Conversely, the lowest ranking countries often have economic and political instability, conflict, poor healthcare, and other challenges impacting individuals’ quality of life.

In order to better gauge the quantified assessments of the largely qualitative construct of happiness, the relevant terms must first be operationalized. For this purpose, the following representative definitions are provided:

Happiness:

The most common definitions of happiness (aside from “the state of being happy”) include factors such as contentment and satisfaction with one’s station and circumstances in life. In this regard, one authority advises that, “For most, the term happiness is interchangeable with ‘subjective well-being,’ which is typically measured by asking people about how satisfied they feel with their lives, how much positive and negative emotion they tend to feel and their sense of meaning and purpose” (What is Happiness? 2023, p. 2).

Consumerism:

A useful definition of this term is: “Consumerism is the idea that increasing the consumption of goods and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal, and that a person's well-being and happiness depend fundamentally on obtaining consumer goods and material possessions” (Hayes, Clarke and Schmitt 2023, 3).

Supply and demand:

Of the three variables, supply and demand is the least culpable in contributing to or detracting from individual levels of happiness. In sum, the term “supply and demand” refers to the fundamental economic concepts that describe the relationship between the availability of a product or service (e.g., supply) and the desire or need for that product or service (e.g., demand) (Allen and Arkolakis 2023).

Discussion

Taken together, the foregoing definitions are sufficiently straightforward to determine whether consumerism leads to happiness. For instance, scholarly perspectives on marketing often portray consumerism as a movement focused on protecting consumers from unethical business practices. Influential thinkers in the field like Philip Kotler have linked consumerist ideals to neoliberal capitalist principles (Hernais, Wilcox and Lais 2023). These views, however, do not engage substantially with the diverse experiences, concerns, and contexts shaping consumerism in other parts of the world besides the West (Hernais et al. 2023).

Nevertheless, as applied to the United States and similarly situated nations that rank higher on the World Happiness Report, optimally implemented and administered, consumerism does in fact provide a valuable framework which serves to protect consumers from legions of unscrupulous marketers that are lined up on every media platform to bilk yet another unwary individual. Taken to its extreme, though, even the most well-intentioned and benign consumerism will invariably run up against an accelerating “keeping up with the Joneses” wall that characterizes modern life for many Americans. Indeed, based on recent social media content, many influencers are advocating more and more bling and damn the cost.

Notwithstanding the adage that “money won’t buy happiness,” the above-stated definitions of happiness underscore the fact that people are always subject to the Maslovian hierarchy and there are likely few starving or drowning people in the world who are truly happy. On the other hand, being a subjective construct, happiness may or may not depend on the amount, quality or type of material possessions an individual enjoys. The historic record is replete with examples of rich people who died alone and miserable or by their own hands, while a goat herder in rural Siberia with a large family and a healthy flock may rate his life as first-rate and his happiness level sky-high.

It is also important to point out that happiness is an elusive and highly transitory state, and people who walk around smiling and whistling are widely regarded as uninformed, happy-go-lucky weirdos that do not know the real score – otherwise they would not feel that way. Conversely, even the most mean, dour and stoic individuals likely experience happiness from time to time, if only through a warped schadenfreude view. Few people, it seems, are totally immune from the human conditions that make most people happy or not, but some individuals appear fortunate enough to have found the right formula for themselves.

Conclusion

In an era marked by consumerism’s pervasive influence, understanding its implications for personal well-being and happiness requires a nuanced perspective that recognizes the unique nature of the human experience. As the definitions of happiness have illustrated, this elusive state is highly subjective and can transcend material wealth. Individual perceptions of happiness are influenced by a myriad of factors, including cultural, social, and personal experiences. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize that happiness is not solely dependent on the quantity, quality, or type of possessions one accumulates. While some may seem perpetually cheerful, other people may find happiness in unexpected moments or circumstances. Finally, the research showed that the purposes of this analysis, consumerism in and of itself does not contribute to individual happiness levels in any meaningful fashion beyond protecting people from their own foolish impulses. This finding means that the answer to the question, “Will consumerism lead to happiness?” is “sometimes – it depends” and the answer to the question, “Is supply and demand the main problem of consumerism?” is negative since it refers to economic forces and trends.