Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Food-Based Activities Versus Material Possessions: Alternatives To Consumption, Robin René Wikoff, Madeleine E. Pullman

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine how food-related experiential activities offer different types of intrinsic pleasures, create an alternative path to consumerism, and subsequently affect happiness and well-being. Participant’s perspectives on these activities are compared to those of their favourite material possessions to explore the differences in meaning and motivations. Phenomenological interviews centred on food activities and material possessions revealed that experiential food-related hobbies are valued highly and a source of great life satisfaction because of meeting a variety of psychological needs. These activities offer an alternative conception of what it is to flourish and to enjoy a ‘high’ standard of living as they …