Grant E. Donnelly

Social Recycling Transforms Unwanted Goods into Happiness

Consumers are often surrounded by resources that once offered meaning or happiness but that have lost this subjective value over time—even as they retain their objective utility. We explore the potential for social recycling—disposing of used goods by allowing other consumers to acquire them at no cost—to transform unused physical resources into increased consumer happiness. Six studies suggest that social recycling increases positive affect relative to trash, recycling, and donations of goods to nonprofit organizations. Both perceptions of helping the environment and helping other people drive this increase in positive affect. We conclude that social recycling offers a scalable means for reengineering the end of the consumption cycle to transform unused resources into happiness. We suggest that further research should continue to enrich a general theory of disposition, such that we are able to maximize the ecological, interpersonal, and community utility of partially depleted resources.

Psychologically Informed Implementations of Sugary-Drink Portion Limits

In 2012, the New York City Board of Health prohibited restaurants from selling sugary drinks in containers that would hold more than 16 oz. Although a state court ruled that the Board of Health did not have the authority to implement such a policy, it remains a legally viable option for governments and a voluntary option for restaurants. However, there is very limited empirical data on how such a policy might affect the purchasing and consumption of sugary drinks. We report four well-powered, incentive-compatible experiments in which we evaluated two possible ways that restaurants might comply with such a policy: bundling (i.e., dividing the contents of oversized cups into two regulation-size cups) and providing free refills (i.e., offering a regulation-size cup with unlimited refills). Bundling caused people to buy less soda. Free refills increased consumption, especially when a waiter served the refills. This perverse effect was reduced in self-service contexts that required walking just a few steps to get a refill.

The Effect of Graphic Warnings on Sugary-Drink Purchasing

Governments have proposed text warning labels to decrease consumption of sugary drinks—a contributor to chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, they may be less effective than more evocative, graphic warning labels. We field-tested the effectiveness of graphic warning labels (vs. text warning labels, calorie labels, and no labels), provided insight into psychological mechanisms driving effectiveness, and assessed consumer sentiment. Study 1 indicated that graphic warning labels reduced the share of sugary drinks purchased in a cafeteria from 21.4% at baseline to 18.2%—an effect driven by substitution of water for sugary drinks. Study 2 showed that graphic warning labels heighten negative affect and prompt consideration of health consequences. Study 3 indicated that public support for graphic warning labels can be increased by conveying effectiveness information. These findings could spur more effective labeling policies that facilitate healthier choices, do not decrease overall beverage purchases, and are publicly accepted.

The Amount and Source of Millionaires’ Wealth (Moderately) Predict Their Happiness:

Two samples of more than 4,000 millionaires reveal two primary findings: First, only at high levels of wealth—in excess of US

A Brief Money Management Scale and Its Associations with Personality, Financial Health, and Hypothetical Debt Repayment

8 million (Study 1) and US

Sadness, identity, and plastic in over-shopping: The interplay of materialism, poor credit management, and emotional buying motives in predicting compulsive buying

10 million (Study 2)—are wealthier millionaires happier than millionaires with lower levels of wealth, though these differences are modest in magnitude. Second, controlling for total wealth, millionaires who have earned their wealth are moderately happier than those who inherited it. Taken together, these results suggest that, among millionaires, wealth may be likely to pay off in greater happiness only at very high levels of wealth, and when that wealth was earned rather than inherited.

Buying to blunt negative feelings : Materialistic escape from the self

Money management is essential for financial health, and more research is needed to better assess people’s money management practices. Therefore, we factor-analyzed 205 scaled questions from previous money management measures to select the best items and examined their internal consistency and convergent validity. Our resulting 18-item Brief Money Management Scale and its factors (management of cash, credit, savings, and insurance) replicate and clarify previous relationships between types of money management and financial outcomes as well as personality and demographic antecedents. Furthermore, this scale is reliable and predicts participants’ hypothetical debt repayment behavior, suggesting concurrent validity. We discuss how future studies can use this multifaceted measure of money management to better understand the antecedents and consequences of different financial decisions.