What the World Cup Teaches Us About Spending Money

Brian Page
4 hours ago
4 min read

As a Certified Financial Therapist™ and Accredited Financial Counselor®, I often talk with couples about how they spend their money. One of the most fascinating findings in consumer psychology is that people consistently report greater happiness from spending money on experiences than on material possessions. The World Cup provides a perfect example of why, according to research.

Why Experiences Create More Happiness Than Stuff

Research by Van Boven and Gilovich (2003) found that people derive greater happiness from experiential purchases than material purchases. Whether it's attending a concert, taking a vacation, or experiencing a special event with family or friends, these tend to provide more lasting satisfaction than buying physical items.

Think about the World Cup. Years after the tournament ends, fans talk about the match they attended, the dramatic penalty kick they witnessed, or the celebration they enjoyed with friends and family. Experiences become part of our personal story. Possessions often become part of the background.

You can argue that buying a jersey pales in comparison to the experience itself, but only if the jersey is unrelated to the experience.

ProTip: If you’re going to the game, buy the jersey for the game and wear it. Each time you put it on in the years that follow, you’ll be reminded of the experience.

The World Cup Is a Masterclass in Memory Creation

One reason experiences generate greater happiness is that they produce lasting memories. You may forget the details of a purchase made five years ago, but you'll likely remember where you were when your favorite team scored a dramatic goal in stoppage time. You'll remember who was sitting beside you, how you felt in the moment, and the conversations that followed.

Research reviewed by Van Boven (2005) suggests that experiences contribute more to well-being because they become a meaningful part of our lives and identities. We don't simply consume experiences—we carry them with us.

This is one reason couples often report greater satisfaction when spending money on shared activities rather than accumulating more possessions. The experience continues to generate positive feelings long after the event itself has ended.

ProTip: Take a picture of yourself with friends and family at the event, then set it as a temporary screensaver or hang it on the wall. Seeing the picture will bring up the memory of that moment with loved ones.

Shared Experiences Strengthen Relationships

The World Cup is rarely enjoyed alone. Families gather together. Friends host viewing parties. Communities celebrate victories and mourn losses together. This social component is important.

Gilovich, Kumar, and Jampol (2015) found that experiences create greater happiness in part because they foster deeper social connections. Mutual experiences help people feel connected to one another in ways that material possessions often cannot.

A couple may forget the details of a furniture purchase, but they are more likely to remember the trip they took together to watch a match, the weekend they spent hosting friends, or the conversations they shared during the tournament.

When couples invest in experiences, they are often investing in their relationship.

This principle extends far beyond soccer. Date nights, weekend getaways, family adventures, concerts, and shared hobbies all create chances for connection. Those connections frequently provide a greater return on investment than many physical purchases.

Experiences Are Less Vulnerable to Comparison

One of the challenges with material purchases is that they invite comparison. Someone always has a newer car, a larger home, a more expensive watch, or the latest technology. Experiences work differently.

Research by Gilovich and colleagues (2015) suggests that experiences are less susceptible to unfavorable social comparison because each experience is unique. Your World Cup experience belongs to you. No one can replicate the exact people, emotions, conversations, and moments that made it meaningful.

This helps explain why experiences often continue to generate positive feelings long after they occur. A material purchase may lose its appeal when something better appears. A meaningful experience typically becomes more valuable as it becomes part of your personal history.

Spending on Experiences Creates More Day-to-Day Happiness

The benefits of experiential spending extend beyond long-term memories.

Research by Kumar, Killingsworth, and Gilovich (2020) found that spending money on experiences generates greater moment-to-moment happiness than spending money on material possessions.

In other words, experiences don't just make us happier when we look back on them. They often make us happier as they happen.

Consider the eagerness leading up to the World Cup. Fans spend weeks discussing matchups, making predictions, planning watch parties, and counting down to kickoff. Then comes the event itself. Afterward, people relive highlights, share stories, and revisit memories.

Experiences create happiness before, during, and after the event. Many material purchases just cannot match that emotional timeline.

What Couples Can Learn From the World Cup

The lesson is that if your goal is happiness, connection, and life satisfaction, experiences frequently provide a better return than things. Before making a significant purchase, consider asking:

Will this create meaningful memories?
Will this strengthen our relationship?
Will we still be talking about this five years from now?
Could an experience provide more value than the item we're considering buying?

For many couples, the answer may be yes. That doesn't necessarily mean buying tickets to the World Cup. It could mean organizing a weekend getaway, taking a family vacation, attending a concert, trying a new activity together, or simply creating intentional opportunities for shared experiences.

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