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Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and

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Article  in  SN Social Sciences · July 2021

DOI: 10.1007/s43545-021-00191-w

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SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166
https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00191-w

ORIGINAL PAPER

Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life

satisfaction, and experiential consumption

Juliana Matte1   · Ana Cristina Fachinelli1   · Deonir De Toni1   ·

Gabriel Sperandio Milan2   · Pelayo Munhoz Olea3 

Received: 23 November 2020 / Accepted: 17 June 2021

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Abstract
This research objective is to propose and test a theoretical model representing the
relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential con-
sumption. A survey with 395 Brazilian amateur runners was conducted, and the
structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. The main results
showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption positively influence hap-
piness, and minimalism influences experiential consumption in the sample studied.
Furthermore, minimalism did not influence happiness. The proposed framework
showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption explain 54.2% of the
happiness of leisure practitioners. Because people generally do not increase their
happiness by choosing a simple lifestyle, they can decrease consumption by incen-
tives other than happiness. Therefore, public policies aimed at raising awareness of
the importance of reducing consumption should focus on other benefits, such as the
benefits that can be gained from leisure and experiential consumption.

Keywords  Minimalism · Happiness · Life satisfaction · Experiential consumption ·

Structural equation modeling

Introduction

The happiest nations tend to be economically developed, respectful of human rights,

low on corruption, progressive in taxation, and income support. Besides, they tend
to protect freedom and have healthy natural environments (Diener et  al. 2015).
Happy people tend to be healthier and live longer, have better relationships, have

For the feasibility of this study, the project of this thesis was submitted to the Ethics in
Research Committee (CEP), via Plataforma Brasil, and registered under the number CAAE
24956619.8.0000.5341, approved under the number 3.785.586 on December 16, 2019.

* Juliana Matte
ju.cxs1@gmail.com
Extended author information available on the last page of the article

Vol.:(0123456789)
 166   Page 2 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

more friends, are more pro-social, are engaged citizens, and are more successful at
work (Myers and Diener 2018). Therefore, as researchers begin to understand how,
what, when, and why of strategies to increase happiness, they will become better
positioned to provide empirical advice to the millions of people—in the family,
school, work, health, organization, or mental health settings—who wish to be hap-
pier (Lyubomirsky and Layous 2013).
Subjective well-being (SWB) is composed of emotional experiences (positive and
negative emotions) and life satisfaction (Diener 2000; Diener et al. 1999). Life sat-
isfaction is a cognitive component and involves evaluating one’s living conditions
most of the time or in a certain period according to a choice pattern (Lu et al. 2021).
Diener’s SWB composition is used by many scholars (Allik et al. 2018; Hajek and
König 2019; Kuan et al. 2020; Lu et al. 2021). In this framework, individuals with
higher SWB enjoy higher life satisfaction and experience more positive emotions
and fewer negative emotions. However, how much does life satisfaction impact
SWB? This is one question that this study aimed to answer.
From the individual perspective, three components form happiness: genetics,
responsible for 50% of people’s happiness; circumstances, corresponding to 10%
of people’s happiness; and intentional activities, performed daily by the individual,
corresponding to 40% of happiness (Lyubomirsky et al. 2005). Although these per-
centages are not accurate, when we analyze intentional activities, we verify that indi-
viduals can increase their happiness through their intentional behavior and maintain
this impulse in the long term (Sheldon and Lyubomirsky 2019).
Among the possible perspectives that can influence happiness, when consider-
ing consumer behavior, experiential consumption can also make people happier than
material goods (Carter and Gilovich 2010). It refers to consumption performed with
the primary purpose of acquiring intangible life experiences, as opposed to mate-
rial consumption, which mainly seeks to acquire tangible objects (Van Boven and
Gilovich 2003). Thus, researchers found that experiential consumption promotes
happiness more than material consumption, strengthening social relationships
through social sharing (Kumar and Gilovich 2015). Besides, it has more impact
on oneself. In other words, it has an impact on the individual (Thomas and Millar
2013), becomes memories (Carter and Gilovich 2012), remaining alive in people,
and helping them to build their identity (Gilovich et al. 2015).
Besides the consumption type, this study aimed to identify the influence of con-
sumption reduction, through minimalism, on happiness. Minimalism is a sustainable
lifestyle in which individuals considerably reduce their materialistic assets by resist-
ing the accumulation of material goods or by cautious purchasing behavior of mate-
rial goods (Kang et  al. 2021). The relationship between reduced consumption and
well-being was investigated by Oral and Thurner (2019) but not confirmed. Mini-
malism can be described as a lifestyle that serves the goals of personal well-being
and sustainable consumption (Kang et al. 2021; Kasser 2009; Lloyd and Pennington
2020), making it an antecedent for happiness (Alexander and Ussher 2012; Boujbel
and d’Astous 2012). In line with the above, we believe that people who consume less
material goods will prefer experiential consumption and, consequently, will increase
their happiness.
SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 3 of 22  166

This research objective was to propose, test, and validate a theoretical framework
representing the relationships between voluntary simplicity, happiness, life satisfac-
tion, and experiential consumption. The research was applied to runners, as these
practitioners, like other serious leisure practitioners, may obtain personal and social
benefits (Stebbins 2016), such as providing a sense of conquest, and social and psy-
chological benefits, such as satisfaction with leisure, life satisfaction, happiness, and
self-realization (Stebbins 2018). These benefits may also be related to experiential
consumption since the experiences remain more in memory than material consump-
tion (Mittal and Silvera 2018). As for minimalism, people who have a simpler life
have more time for leisure, like running and acquiring benefits as self-realization
and a life with meaning, affecting shopping choices, happiness, and life satisfac-
tion. Also, the number of marathon runners increases annually (Lev and Zach 2020).
Specifically, in more than 70,000 investigated world running events from 1986 to
2018, an increase of 57.8% (from 5 to 7.9 million participants) in participation was
observed in the last 10 years (Andersen 2019). Hence, this study can contribute to
advancing the relationship between consumption and happiness.

Theoretical background

Minimalism and experiential consumption

When talking about minimalism, it is essential to explore the voluntary simplicity

concept first. Voluntary simplicity (VS) is the choice of free will to limit spend-
ing on goods and services and to cultivate non-materialistic sources of satisfaction
and meaning (Etzioni 1998), which results in an anti-consumerist or reduced con-
sumption lifestyle, opposing high consumption (Alexander 2011). Minimalism is a
lifestyle close to VS (Hausen 2019) because individuals seek reduced material con-
sumption and accumulation of possessions (Kang et al. 2021). However, it does not
approximate environmental or sociopolitical orientations like VS (Elgin and Mitch-
ell 1977; Kang et  al. 2021; Kraisornsuthasinee and Swierczek 2018). According
to Dopierała (2017), minimalism is a "second wave" of VS that aligns more with
reducing consumption because it retrieves consumerism as a source of meaning.
If minimalists cultivate non-material sources, we believe that the sources are the
experiential ones, once experiential consumption refers to purchases made with the
primary intention of acquiring intangible life experiences (Van Boven and Gilovich
2003). In this sense, Tatzel (2003) stated that less materialistic people are also more
experiential in their consumption practices. The justification may be a simple life-
style that complements leisure, meaningful work, and ethics (Kraisornsuthasinee
and Swierczek 2018). For this reason, we propose a positive and meaningful rela-
tionship between minimalism and experiential consumption.
The simple lifestyle can be motivated by people’s dissatisfaction with the
promise of modernity, which suggests that it is possible to achieve and live a
good life through material abundance (Kala et  al. 2017). Simple lifestyle peo-
ple have already identified that material consumption does not satisfy them,
 166   Page 4 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

suggesting that experiences or experiential consumption can satisfy them, even

if they adopt the same behavior for different reasons (Gatersleben et al. 2019).
In this sense, Gilovich et al. (2015, p. 156) stress that “we are the sum total of
our experiences. We are not the sum total of our possessions, however important
they might be to us. If called upon to write our memoirs, it is our experiences we
would write, not our possessions.” Therefore, when people choose a simple life-
style, they seek meaning in that choice, shared with experience or experiential
consumption.
Voluntary simplifiers declared that material goods hinder personal fulfillment
(Lorenzen 2012), contrary to experiences lived with others and, compared with
solitary experiential purchases and material items, increase the satisfaction of
the need for kinship and social connection (Caprariello and Reis 2013). For that
reason, the first research hypothesis is

H1  Minimalism positively influences experiential consumption.

Minimalism and happiness

The adoption of a minimalist lifestyle results from the dissatisfaction with the
modernity promise; a good life is a life with abundance (Kala et al. 2017). When
individuals realize such dissatisfaction and their limitations in providing iden-
tity and happiness, they restrict their consumption and reduce their possessions
to achieve self-improvement and greater awareness (Dopierała 2017; Rodriguez
2018). Anderson and Heyne (2016, p. 124) mentioned that "Changing one’s
lifestyle is an important pathway to well-being." This argument highlights the
importance of daily positive changes, like minimalization (Kang et  al. 2021).
Anderson and Heyne’s (2016) theory explains that a path to a lifestyle change is
supported and driven by positive emotions that help behavior change.
As for happiness, it refers to the state of joy and well-being, combined with a
sense of meaning and appreciation of life (Lyubomirsky 2008), and appears as a
byproduct of cultivation activities that individuals consider important and signif-
icant (Delle Fave et al. 2011). Therefore, there is a positive relationship between
minimalism and happiness because the simple lifestyle emphasizes intimate rela-
tionships and spirituality, two predictors of happiness (Mourad et al. 2019). This
relationship is stressed in various studies (Alexander and Ussher 2012; Ander-
son and Heyne 2016; Boujbel and D’Astous 2012; Kang et  al. 2021). For Oral
and Thurner (2019), high control over consumption has no significant positive
impact on consumer well‐being, neither a broad scope of concerns. However,
anti-consumption attitudes produce positive feelings and happiness compared to
pro-consumption attitudes (Iyer and Muncy 2016). Anti-consumption awareness
leads, to some extent, to higher levels of happiness (Hüttel et  al. 2020). Thus,
the second research hypothesis is

H2  Minimalism positively influences happiness.

SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 5 of 22  166

Life satisfaction and happiness

Although humans have contemplated happiness for thousands of years, it was only
in the mid-twentieth century that the study of SWB gradually emerged (Lu et  al.
2021). Nevertheless, in the 1960s and 1970s, the literature intensified studies search-
ing for its indicators (Diener et al. 2018). The structure of SWB initially included
positive and negative emotions (Bradburn 1969), and later, Diener (1984) described
that SWB is composed of emotional experiences (positive and negative emotions)
and life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is people’s explicit and conscious assessment
of their lives, often based on factors that they consider relevant (Diener et al. 2018).
Even though life satisfaction is part of happiness (Diener 2000; Diener et  al.
2003), they are treated in research as synonyms, in other words, interchangeably,
because most studies on happiness have not used happiness measures (scales) but
instead life satisfaction or well-being measures (Oral and Thurner 2019; Zeidner
2020). However, happiness and life satisfaction are distinct and independent con-
structs and they have a positive relationship; that is to say, life satisfaction positively
influences people’s happiness (Delle Fave et  al. 2011; Lu et  al. 2021). This posi-
tive relationship is perceived in Diener’s argument, whose individuals with higher
SWB enjoy higher life satisfaction and experience more positive emotions and fewer
negative emotions (Lu et al. 2021). Given that, we observe that life satisfaction has a
direct and positive relationship with SWB.

H3  Life satisfaction positively influences happiness.

Experiential consumption and happiness

Experiential consumption refers to consumption performed with the primary inten-

tion of acquiring intangible life experiences (Van Boven and Gilovich 2003). There-
fore, the main distinction between experiential and material consumption is in the
primary intention of purchasing, because even if all experiential purchases involve
some tangible attributes, consumers’ main intention in buying them is not to acquire
a tangible good but to obtain experience or memory (Mittal and Silvera 2018).
Researchers showed that experiences promote happiness more than possessions,
both in perspective or after use (Kumar et  al. 2014; Kumar and Gilovich 2015,
2016) and in retrospect, that is to say when the consumer remembers experiential
consumption or lived experience (Caprariello and Reis 2013; Carter and Gilovich
2010, 2012; Howell and Hill 2009; Pchelin and Howell 2014; Zhang et al. 2014). In
other words, researchers identified greater happiness with experiential consumption
when compared to material consumption, both right after consumption (the experi-
ence) and after years, as experiences remain alive in memories more than material
consumption (Mittal and Silvera 2018).
In this context, Thomas and Millar (2013) identified that experiential purchases
have more impact on themselves, namely, they impact the individual, and this
impact is associated with increased happiness. Caprariello and Reis (2013) observed
 166   Page 6 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

that while spending money on socially shared experiences was more valued than
spending on experiences conducted alone or on material goods, solitary experiences
were not more valued than material goods.
Additionally, social sharing was investigated by Kumar and Gilovich (2015), who
identified that people talk more about their experiences than their possessions and
get more value from them. Furthermore, experiential consumption provides greater
satisfaction and happiness, since experiential shopping (or consumption) improves
social relationships faster and more effectively than material goods; it forms a more
significant part of a person’s identity; and it is valued more on its own terms and
evokes fewer social comparisons than, comparatively, material shopping, with a
more utilitarian bias (Gilovich et al. 2015). Thus, the fourth research hypothesis is
presented:

H4  Experiential consumption positively influences happiness.

In order to facilitate the understanding of the proposed theoretical framework and

its respective research hypotheses, Fig. 1 follows.

Research method

This research has a quantitative approach, with a descriptive objective, carried out
through a survey. For data analysis, the structural equation modeling technique was
used to validate and evaluate the theoretical framework’s intrinsic relationships,
namely, its research hypotheses (Kline 2015; Byrne 2016).
The participants in the research were Brazilian runners aged 18 and over who
regularly practice leisure. The reason for this choice is that these practitioners may
obtain personal and social benefits (Stebbins 2016), which may, consequently, influ-
ence consumption behavior (Niu 2018). Because this research aimed to know if min-
imalist people, with a simple lifestyle, consume more experiences and are happier,

Fig. 1  Proposed theoretical framework. Source Elaborated by the authors

SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 7 of 22  166

we believe that leisure practitioners have more time for leisure and possibly have
greater minimalist behavior. As a result, we chose this group to apply the research.
Participants were invited to participate in the survey through social networking
groups, specifically Facebook, and the Google Forms platform was used to apply
the surveys. Data were collected from December 26, 2019, to January 4, 2020, and
totaled 413 questionnaires. After cleaning the data, verified through the tests of uni-
variate and multivariate outliers (Z-scores and Mahalanobis), the sample resulted in
395 valid cases.
The happiness scale used was Lyubomirsky and Lepper (1999), composed of four
items, measured through a 7-point Likert scale. For the first two variables observed,
the values ranged from "1. Not a very happy person" to "7. A very happy person."
For the last two questions, respondents should state to what extent the characteriza-
tion described him or her, from "1. Not at all" to "7. A great deal." When validating
the instrument, the authors found Cronbach’s Alpha ranging from 0.80 to 0.94 in 14
different samples (N = 2.732), considered adequate for the literature. This scale was
translated and validated in Portuguese (Brazil) by Damásio et al. (2014).
Life satisfaction was measured through the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)
of Diener et al. (1985), which obtained Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.82 in its validation.
The scale comprises five items, measured through a 7-point Likert scale, with values
varying from "1. I totally disagree" to "7. I totally agree."
The minimalism scale used was from Iwata (2006), with seven items, which
measures the cautious attitude towards shopping, and the instrument validation pre-
sented Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.76. That scale was also measured through a 7-point
Likert scale, ranging from "1. I totally disagree to "7. I totally agree." This scale
has variables that measure cautious shopping and product longevity. Minimalism is
a lifestyle that seeks cautious purchasing of material goods, avoiding impulse and
unlimited purchases (Kang et al. 2021), as people are reflective and intentional about
purchases (Dopierała 2017). Consequently, minimalists value the longevity of mate-
rial possessions, "preferring well-designed, multi-purpose, and space-saving objects
and avoiding cheap, low-quality goods that cannot stand the test of time" (Kang
et al. 2021, p. 805). They value the longevity of products, caring for and repairing
them when they can, reducing waste (Dopierała 2017) because durability is essential
to maintaining a smaller number of possessions (Kang et al. 2021).
In turn, the scale used to measure experiential consumption was the Experiential
Buying Tendency Scale (EBTS), developed by Howell et al. (2012). It is a four-item
scale and showed internal consistency (α = 0.78). The scale was measured using a
7-point Likert-type scale. From a four-item scale, lower scores on the first and sec-
ond questions represented a tendency to spend discretionary income on material pur-
chases, while higher scores indicated a tendency to spend discretionary income on
experiential purchases. On the other hand, questions three and four presented state-
ments about experiential and material purchases, respectively, asking the respond-
ent to sign for what they described, between "1. I totally disagree" and "7. I totally
agree."
In order to identify bias problems that may distort the research result, the Har-
mon One-Factor bias analysis was performed to estimate the impact of the com-
mon method bias: common latent factor (Podsakoff et al. 2003). The method result
 166   Page 8 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

showed that a single factor explains 19.51% of the total variance. As a result, the
methodology used to estimate the common method bias presented congruent results,
which shows less than 50% of the variance and no common method bias (Fuller
et al. 2016; Podsakoff et al. 2003). All analyses were performed using the statistical
software SPSS 21 and AMOS 20. Confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the qual-
ity of the instrument. Then, structural equation modeling examined the proposed
hypotheses.

Results

Descriptive analysis

Of the 395 respondents (valid cases), 156 are male (39.5%) and 239 are female
(60.5%). The predominant age was between 31 and 50 years, with 272 practitioners
(68.9%). Likewise, the education level that stands out is complete higher education
and Specialization/MBA, with 272 respondents (68.9%). Income did not show a pre-
dominance, as can be seen in Table 1.
As for the running practice, most respondents, 296 (74.9%), reported practicing 3
to 4 times a week. As for the hours that running demands on the day of practice, 365
respondents (92.4%) described that they spend from 1 to 2 h on that day when there
is activity (Table 2).

Assessment of the structural model

For the individual validation of the constructs, the unidimensionality, reliability,

convergent validity, and discriminant validity were evaluated (Table 3). In order to
verify the unidimensionality, the Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) was per-
formed employing main components and through Varimax orthogonal rotation. The
EFA factor loadings varied between 0.54 and 0.90, considered satisfactory (Byrne
2016), except variable HA4, which presented a value of 0.43, and the variables MI2
(second variable of minimalism) and EP4 (fourth variable of experiential consump-
tion), which presented values below 0.4 and were removed. HA4 was maintained, as
the other values of extracted variance, composite reliability, and Cronbach’s Alpha
presented adequate values, demonstrating that this variable did not impact the valid-
ity and reliability of the happiness scale.
The constructs minimalism and experiential consumption were not adjusted
according to the literature for the extracted variance, indicating 50%, obtaining 44
and 45% values, respectively. The composite reliability and Cronbach’s Alpha of all
constructs were above the recommended score of 0.6 for Cronbach’s Alpha and 0.7
for composite reliability (Malhotra et  al. 2017; Byrne 2016), indicating that they
present adequate reliability.
The discriminant validity demonstrates to which extent the constructs are cor-
related, analyzed by extracting the variances of each of the constructs and compared
with the shared variances, obtained by calculating the correlations between the
SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 9 of 22  166

Table 1  Respondents’ profile Respondents’ profile n %

Gender Male 156 39.5

Female 239 60.5
Age 18 to 30 years old 52 13.2
31 to 40 years old 143 36.2
41 to 50 years old 129 32.7
51 to 60 years old 58 14.7
61 years old or over 13 3.3
Education Incomplete primary school education 2 0.5
Complete primary school education 5 1.3
Incomplete high school education 2 0.5
Complete high school education 41 10.4
Incomplete undergraduate education 38 9.6
Complete undergraduate education 143 36.2
Specialization/MBA 129 32.7
Master 26 6.6
Doctorate 9 2.3
Marital status Married or in a stable union 245 62.0
Single 108 27.3
Divorced 40 10.1
Widowed 2 0.5
Income Up to R$ 1760.00 34 8.6
Between R$ 1761.00 and R$ 2640.00 50 12.7
Between R$ 264.00 and R$ 4400.00 91 23.0
Between R$ 4401.00 and R$ 6160.00 84 21.3
Between R$ 6161.00 and R$ 9680.00 52 13.2
Between R$ 9681.00 and R$ 11,440.00 34 8.6
Over R$ 11,441.00 50 12.7

Source Data from research

Table 2  Practice of the activity

Regarding the practice of the activity developed Frequency %

Frequency of running practice Daily 5 1.3

6 times a week 1 0.3
5 times a week 56 14.2
4 times a week 111 28.1
3 times a week 185 46.8
Twice a week 37 9.4
Hours of activity with running on practice day 1 to 2 h of that day 365 92.4
2 to 4 h of that day 29 7.3
4 to 6 h of that day 0 0
All day long 1 0.3

Source Data from research

Table 3  Convergent validity
166  

Constructs Variables (scale items) Factor loading CR EVA Cronbach’s alpha

Minimalism MI1. I try to live a simple life and not to buy articles which are not necessary 0.58 0.82 0.44 0.80
MI3. When I shop, I decide to do so after serious consideration of whether an article is neces- 0.55
sary to me or not
Page 10 of 22

MI4. Even if I have money, it is not my principle to buy things suddenly 0.54
MI5. I try to use articles which I bought as long as possible 0.79
MI6. I am the type of person who continues using something old as long as it can still be used 0.72
MI7. When I shop, I take a serious view of being able to use an article for a long time without 0.74
getting tired of it
Experiential consumption EC1. In general, when I have extra money I am likely to buy … 0.67 0.71 0.45 0.68
EC2. When I want to be happy, I am more likely to spend my money on … 0.67
EC3. Some people generally spend their money on a lot of different life experiences (e.g., 0.67
eating out, going to a concert, traveling,…. They go about enjoying their life by taking
part in daily activities they personally encounter and live through. To what extent does this
characterization describe you?
Happiness HA1. In general, I consider myself 0.90 0.82 0.55 0.68
HA2. Compared to most of my peers, I consider myself 0.86
HA3. Some people are generally very happy. They enjoy life regardless of what is going on, 0.71
getting the most out of everything. To what extent does this characterization describe you?
HA4. Some people are generally not very happy. Although they are not depressed, they never 0.43
SN Soc Sci

seem as happy as they might be. To what extent does this characterization describe you?
Life satisfaction LF1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal 0.71 0.88 0.60 0.87
LF2. The conditions of my life are excellent 0.81
LF3. I am satisfied with my life 0.84
(2021) 1:166

LF4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life 0.83
LF5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing 0.66

Source Data from research

SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 11 of 22  166

squared constructs (Fornell and Larcker 1981). Therefore, the discriminant validity
between the constructs is perceived when they present extracted variances superior
to the shared variances, which occurred in this test (Table 4).

Structural model validation

For the SEM, there is a need to check the goodness-of-fits indexes (GOFs), which
indicate how well the implicit measures of the specified model coincide with the
variances, covariances, and means of the observed data (Kline 2015). The authors
highlight that these measures can be classified into three general categories: (i)
absolute fit measures (RMSR, GFI, and RMSEA); (ii) incremental or comparative
fit measures (IFI, AGFI, TLI, and NFI); and (iii) parsimony fit measures (CFI).
In the indexes analyzed for the structural model, the results obtained for RMSEA
(0.064), IFI (0.931), GFI (0.916), TLI (0.916), and CFI (0.930) met the indications
in the literature (Kline 2015). For the AGFI (0.887) and NFI (0.893) indexes, the
results were in a border zone, close to 0.9 (Byrne 2016). However, Bagozzi and Yi
(2012) emphasized that GFI and AGFI often do not present acceptable values and
are not presented in several studies today.
In order to test the proposed theoretical framework hypotheses, the significance
and amplitude of the estimated regression coefficients were analyzed (Kline 2015).
Table  5 presents the structural paths, unstandardized coefficients, standard errors,
standardized coefficients, t-values, and probabilities.
From the results obtained, three of the proposed hypotheses were confirmed.
Thus: ­H1: minimalism positively influences experiential consumption (β = 0.235,
p < 0.01); ­H3: life satisfaction positively influences happiness (β = 0.718, p < 0.01);
and ­H4: experiential consumption positively influences happiness (β = 0.167,
p < 0.01). However, ­H2: which concerns the positive influence of minimalism on
happiness, was not statistically supported (β = − 0.008, p = 0.852). Figure 2 presents
the structural model.
The coefficient of determination (R2) informs the proportion of the variance of a
dependent variable justified by the independent variables (Meyers et al. 2016). Thus,
life satisfaction and experiential consumption explain 54.2% of the happiness of lei-
sure practitioners. Also, experiential consumption explains 5.5% of minimalism.
As the hypothesis between happiness and minimalism was not confirmed in this
study, we verified whether demographic aspects might have impacted the happiness

Table 4  Discriminant validity
Constructs Happiness Life satisfaction Minimalism Experiential
consumption

Happiness 0.55
Life satisfaction 0.54 0.60
Minimalism 0.02 0.03 0.44
Experiential consumption 0.11 0.07 0.05 0.45

Source Data from research

 166  
Page 12 of 22

Table 5  Hypotheses test
Hy Path diagrams Unstandardized coef- Standardized coef- Standardized error t-value Sig Results
ficients (b) ficients (β)

H1 Minimalism experiential consumption 0.41 0.235 0.125 3.289 0.001 Confirmed

H2 Minimalism happiness − 0.011 − 0.008 0.059 − 0.186 0.852 Not confirmed
H3 Life satisfaction happiness 0.626 0.718 0.06 10.445 *** Confirmed
H4 Experiential consumption happiness 0.126 0.167 0.04 3.118 0.002 Confirmed

Source Data from research

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(2021) 1:166
SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 13 of 22  166

Fig. 2  Tested theoretical framework. Source Data from research (AMOS)

and minimalism of the sample through the variance analysis test. As shown in
Table 6, age has a difference between groups, both in happiness and minimalism.
Given the above, we analyzed if these differences between groups existed, based
on Tukey’s posthoc (Stockemer 2019). In the happiness and minimalism constructs,
a significantly smaller difference of runners between 18 and 30 years old compared
to runners aged between 51 and 60 years old was observed. Furthermore, the aver-
age of minimalism is higher than that of happiness in all age groups, except for run-
ners aged 41 to 50, which is the same, and 51 to 60, which the average of happiness
is higher. Given such behavior, this may be a factor that influenced the non-confir-
mation of ­H2 (Table 7).

Discussion

From the confirmation of three of the four hypotheses, it is necessary to high-

light some aspects. As for hypothesis ­H1, which deals with the positive influence
of minimalism on experiential consumption, this result corroborates with Tatzel
(2003), who stated that those less materialistic are also more experiential in their
consumption practices. This relationship can be seen based on perceived dissat-
isfaction with material consumption, which is impossible to achieve and lead to

Table 6  Analysis of variance in demographic aspects

Constructs Age Education Marital Status Income
Sig Sig Sig Sig

Life satisfaction 0.000 0.351 0.054 0.015

Happiness 0.010 0.275 0.501 0.023
Minimalism 0.022 0.098 0.372 0.291
Experiential consumption 0.573 0.299 0.319 0.666

Source Data from research

 166   Page 14 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

Table 7  Tukey’s test of multiple age comparisons of runners

Age groups HA MI Alternatives HA MI
Averages Sig Sig

18 to 30 years old 5.24 5.27 31 to 40 years old 0.507 0.444

41 to 50 years old 0.511 0.707
51 to 60 years old 0.004 0.016
61 years old or over 0.906 0.357
31 to 40 years old 5.49 5.55 18 to 30 years old 0.507 0.444
41 to 50 years old 1.000 0.985
51 to 60 years old 0.056 0.229
61 years old or over 1.000 0.847
41 to 50 years old 5.49 5.49 18 to 30 years old 0.511 0.707
31 to 40 years old 1.000 0.985
51 to 60 years old 0.064 0.103
61 years old or over 1.000 0.733
51 to 60 years old 5.89 5.88 18 to 30 years old 0.004 0.016
31 to 40 years old 0.056 0.229
41 to 50 years old 0.064 0.103
61 years old or over 0.677 1.000
61 years old or over 5.50 5.85 18 to 30 years old 0.906 0.357
31 to 40 years old 1.000 0.847
41 to 50 years old 1.000 0.733
51 to 60 years old 0.677 1.000

Source Data from research

a good life by material abundance (Kala et  al. 2017). Therefore, the simplifiers
have already identified that material consumption does not satisfy them and may
suggest that experiences or experiential consumption can satisfy them.
This relationship can also be seen from the very concept of minimalism, a
lifestyle that approximates VS (Hausen 2019) in which individuals seek reduced
material consumption and accumulation of possessions (Kang et al. 2021). Con-
sequently, the consumer preference for minimalists will be experiences rather
than possessions. Thus, experiential sources, such as experiential consumption,
increase the satisfaction of the need for kinship and social connection (Capra-
riello and Reis 2013), since the experiences that help build identity and remain
alive in people’s memory (Carter and Gilovich 2012; Gilovich et  al. 2015).
Accordingly, when people adopt minimalism, they seek meaning in that choice,
which is shared in the experience or experiential consumption.
Regarding the ­H2 hypothesis concerning the positive influence of minimalism
on happiness, it has not been confirmed in this study, contrary to other studies
(Alexander and Ussher 2012; Boujbel and D’Astous 2012; Kuanr et  al. 2020).
However, this same disconfirmation of the hypothesis was found by Oral and
Thurner (2019), who have not identified that a reduction in consumption had a
SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 15 of 22  166

positive influence on well-being. The authors’ hypotheses that "high control over
consumption has a positive impact on consumer well-being" and "a broad scope
of concerns has a positive impact on consumer well-being" were not confirmed;
namely, the conscious way of reducing consumption does not increase well-being.
These findings show that people adopt the same behavior for different reasons,
in a manner consistent with their consumer identities (Gatersleben et  al. 2019).
It is also important to highlight that these consumers are not always aware of
the social impacts imposed by the lifestyle movement (Haenfler et al. 2012). Per-
haps for the sample surveyed, there are no gains in happiness when reducing con-
sumption. This result evidences that there are other factors influencing happiness
rather than minimalism.
Another justification for not confirming the hypothesis (­H2) may be the influ-
ence of age on the constructs of happiness and minimalism. For example, hap-
piness demonstrates a U-shaped pattern, suggesting that people are likely to be
more satisfied and happy at the beginning or later stages of their lives (Clark
et  al. 2001; Dolan et  al. 2008; Helliwell 2003). When young or elderly, happi-
ness and satisfaction with life are more significant than in middle age. However,
this pattern was not observed in this study, as happiness increased along the ages
and decreased after 61  years of age. On the other hand, in the Cengiz and Tor-
lak (2018) study, voluntary simplicity varied significantly in terms of age, since
64.3% of North American simplifiers were over 35 years old, suggesting a linear
increase through time (of age). This result was also observed in this study, as
respondents increased the averages of minimalism over the years, with the high-
est averages in the last age groups (from 51 to 60  years and over 61  years). In
summary, while happiness and life satisfaction have a U-shaped behavior (higher
rates in the beginning or later stages of their lives), minimalism has an increasing
behavior throughout life, with higher rates in later stages of their lives.
When we analyze the averages of each age group for the surveyed sample, we
observe a higher average of minimalism concerning happiness between 31 and
40 years of age, equal averages from 41 to 50 years of age, and a greater average
of happiness than that of minimalism from 51 to 60 years of age. This different
behavior among age groups shows that minimalism does not always impact hap-
piness. For example, because of years of stress, fatigue, and unhappiness, there
is a higher possibility of changing to a simple lifestyle as the years go by, spe-
cifically in middle age, because perhaps the individual is struggling to balance
family and work responsibilities (Chhetri et  al. 2009). Alternatively, when indi-
viduals realize that with their effort to acquire goods, it is impossible to achieve
and lead a good life by material abundance (Kala et  al. 2017), they can opt for
minimalism. As can be seen in the research, each age group has a distinct behav-
ior between happiness and minimalism, which may have influenced the rejection
of this hypothesized relationship.
It is important to comment that cultural and socioeconomic aspects can also influ-
ence this relationship since, for example, lifestyle can vary according to the coun-
try’s culture and conditions (Cengiz and Torlak 2018). Consequently, even if the
research is only in Brazil, different cultures throughout the country and differences
in income may have impacted this relationship.
 166   Page 16 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

In hypothesis ­H3, concerning the influence of life satisfaction on happiness, the

confirmation emphasizes and consolidates the perception that life satisfaction has
a strong representation of happiness (β = 0.718). SWB is composed of emotional
experiences (positive and negative emotions) and life satisfaction (Diener 2000).
Individuals with higher subjective well-being enjoy higher life satisfaction and expe-
rience more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions (Delle Fave et al. 2011;
Lu et al. 2021). This SWB framework evidences that life satisfaction has a direct and
positive relationship with SWB confirmed in this study.
­ 4 hypothesis, concerning the positive influence of experiential con-
Finally, the H
sumption on happiness, was confirmed in this study with a survey and previously
verified in qualitative researches and through experiments (Caprariello and Reis
2013; Carter and Gilovich 2010, 2012; Howell and Hill 2009; Kumar and Gilovich
2015, 2016; Kumar et  al. 2014; Pchelin and Howell 2014; Zhang et  al. 2014). In
this way, benefits of experiential consumption that increase happiness are observed,
such as increasing social connection, improving social relationships more quickly
and effectively, and building part of a person’s (or consumer’s) identity (Gilovich
et al. 2015; Kumar and Gilovich 2015; Thomas and Millar 2013).
Given the above, when analyzing the framework as a whole, we observed that
minimalism, even though it does not directly impact happiness, may indirectly affect
it through experiential consumption. In other words, if experiential consumption has
a direct and significant influence on happiness and minimalism stimulates experien-
tial consumption, minimalism may stimulate an indirect effect on happiness. This
may be one of the ways that minimalism relates to happiness.

Conclusion

This study objective has been to propose, test, and validate a theoretical framework
representing the relationship between happiness, life satisfaction, minimalism, and
experiential consumption. The main implications are testing a theoretical framework
that confirmed the relationship between happiness and experiential consumption
through a survey since previous studies demonstrated the relationship through quali-
tative studies and experiments.
The second contribution is the perception of life satisfaction as an influence of
happiness, presenting a strong relationship. However, they are distinct constructs
and, therefore, should not be considered synonymous in literature. Even if there are
studies that analogously treat these constructs, the scales are distinct and are per-
ceived differently by the respondents.
The third contribution is in evidencing the relationship between minimalism and
experiential consumption. Even if studies have not yet addressed such a relation-
ship, research shows that the non-materialistic source of minimalism guides them.
Hence, the results suggest that people who adopt a simple lifestyle choose to reduce
material and non-experiential consumption. As a result, companies that only sell
products could invest in services to reach other forms of consumption. For example,
in addition to selling their products, sports stores should consider promoting events
and training for their customers; camping goods stores should promote campsites;
SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166 Page 17 of 22  166

automobile stores could promote car meeting events. In this context, retail manag-
ers, both physical (face-to-face) and virtual (E-commerce or M-commerce), should
think about investing in strategies and actions that promote value-added services, in
addition to selling their products.
Still on the relationship between minimalism and experiential consumption, when
considering that minimalism is a movement that has emerged from the dissatisfac-
tion of a promise that material goods could bring happiness, there is the possibility
that this lifestyle has greater adherence over the years. Thus, it is essential to identify
that the consumption of material goods can also decrease in the same way, which
leads companies to rethink their strategies. The literature highlights that people who
adopt a simple lifestyle reduce material consumption, but this does not mean less
value. In other words, voluntary simplifiers, as minimalists, buy objects under func-
tionality, not under brand value, symbolism, and/or prestige (Craig-Lees and Hill
2002). They seek longevity in products, care for them, and repair them when they
can, reducing waste because durability is essential to maintain fewer possessions
(Dopierała 2017; Kang et  al. 2021). Therefore, minimalism does not necessarily
lead to the abandonment of all material goods but emphasizes conscious consump-
tion (Miller and Gregan-Paxton 2006), in which the purchase is thought out and ana-
lyzed based on the time of use of the product and its cost benefit. Managers should
pay attention to develop more functional and durable products, as voluntary simpli-
fiers will perceive these characteristics.
Finally, minimalism has not been evidenced to be the antecedent to happiness.
This result shows that more factors impact happiness. Specifically, happiness has
several models that attempt to support long-term happiness (Sheldon and Lyubomir-
sky 2019), such as the Sustainable Happiness Model (SHM) (Lyubomirsky et  al.
2005) and currently the Eudaimonic Activity Model (Martela and Sheldon 2019),
the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model (Sheldon and Lyubomirsky 2012), and
the Positive Activity Model (Lyubomirsky and Layous 2013). Consequently, in the
face of the complexity of happiness, the search for a model will remain constant in
literature.
People do not increase their happiness by choosing a simple lifestyle, and they
can decrease consumption by incentives other than happiness. Hence, public poli-
cies to raise awareness about the importance of reducing consumption should fall
on other gains, such as benefits that can be obtained from leisure and experiential
consumption, for example. Consequently, people can be directed to spend their time
and money on experiences rather than material goods to reduce consumption. Expe-
riences such as a walk, an event, a sport, should be encouraged, both by the public
and private sectors, so that people get involved in experiences and obtain personal
and social benefits.
As for age, identified in this study as a possible characteristic for rejecting the
relationship between minimalism and happiness, we observed that people oscillate
their happiness during the years of life, while minimalism increases. Thus, it is pos-
sible to state that happiness and minimalism are perceived differently throughout
life.
In such a context, do consumption and happiness affect each person’s stage of
life? Questions about the relationship between happiness and consumption or
 166   Page 18 of 22 SN Soc Sci (2021) 1:166

experiential consumption are still open, which may be an agenda for future research.
Therefore, this research advances in experiential consumption relationships and hap-
piness and points out that a minimalist lifestyle does not increase happiness. How-
ever, if we encourage the consumption of experiences, happiness is increased. This
result can foster a minimalist lifestyle with more experiences than possessions.
Future research could try to identify, again, associations of consumption with
happiness, in different contexts, from cultures or subcultures, activities, age groups,
income level, and specific situations of purchase or consumption. In short, factors
may show triggers that make people consume less, without the imposition of pub-
lic actions or financial restrictions. These researches must continue so that a world
with reduced consumption is possible that meets the UN Sustainable Development
Objectives, in which the behavior of each person or consumer is responsible for the
change.

Author contributions  All authors contributed to the study design. The preparation of the material was
done by Juliana Matte. The data collection and analysis were performed by Juliana Matte. The results was
analyzed by Juliana Matte, Deonir De Toni, and Gabriel Sperandio Milan. The first draft of the manu-
script was written by Juliana Matte and all authors commented on the versions of the manuscript. All
authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding  This study was financed by CAPES/FAPERGS (n. 88887.176213/2018-00) and CNPq.

Declarations 

Conflict of interest  The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

Juliana Matte1   · Ana Cristina Fachinelli1   · Deonir De Toni1   ·

Gabriel Sperandio Milan2   · Pelayo Munhoz Olea3 
Ana Cristina Fachinelli
acfachin@ucs.br
Deonir De Toni
deonirdt@terra.com.br
Gabriel Sperandio Milan
gsmilan@unisinos.br
Pelayo Munhoz Olea
pelayo.olea@gmail.com
1
University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul, Brazil
2
University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
3
Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil

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