I’ve noticed that there’s a strange inverse relationship between the size of my apartment and the price of my new television. My charming husband won my consent for the decadent purchase with the reasoning that a cheaper TV would take up too much space in our small living room. We actually had to spend more money to own a less intrusive set. Well, I suppose that’s true. But it’s also true that—particularly in these uncertain times—we could have socked that money away or invested it in a more responsible way.
But this New York Times article has made me feel a lot better about the sleek rectangle that looks down on me from my living room wall. Shame be gone! Apparently there’s scientific evidence that those who suffer from financial hyperopia—farsightedness—look back with sadness on the fun they weren’t able to have because they just couldn’t separate themselves from the dough.
Splurging on a vacation or a pair of shoes or a plasma television can produce an immediate case of buyer’s remorse, but that feeling isn’t permanent, according to Ran Kivetz of Columbia University and Anat Keinan of Harvard. In one study, these consumer psychologists asked college students how they felt about the balance of work and play on their winter breaks.
Immediately after the break, the students’ chief regrets were over not doing enough studying, working and saving money. But when they contemplated their winter break a year afterward, they were more likely to regret not having enough fun, not traveling and not spending money. And when alumni returned for their 40th reunion, they had even stronger regrets about too much work and not enough play on their collegiate breaks.
“People feel guilty about hedonism right afterwards, but as time passes the guilt dissipates,” said Dr. Kivetz, a professor of marketing at the Columbia Business School. “At some point there’s a reversal, and what builds up is this wistful feeling of missing out on life’s pleasures.”
So retailers everywhere now have a new enticement in their bag of trick this season. Go ahead and take that vacation or buy that new TV. It’ll cure your saver’s remorse!
New York Times: Oversaving, A Burden for Our Times
