Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13532
Authors: Michelle Sovinsky; Eugenio Proto; Andrew Oswald; Chloe Michel
Abstract: Advertising is ubiquitous in modern life. Yet might it be harmful to the happiness of nations? This paper blends longitudinal data on advertising with large-scale surveys on citizens’ well-being. The analysis uses information on approximately 1 million randomly sampled European citizens across 27 nations over 3 decades. We show that increases in national advertising expenditure are followed by significant declines in levels of life satisfaction. This finding is robust to adjustments for a range of potential confounders -- including the personal and economic characteristics of individuals, country fixed-effects, year dummies, and business-cycle influences. Further research remains desirable. Nevertheless, our empirical results are some of the first to be consistent with the hypothesis that, perhaps by fostering unending desires, high levels of advertising may depress societal well-being.
Keywords: advertising; life satisfaction; Easterlin paradox; positive affect
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| national advertising expenditure (M37) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| stock of advertising (M37) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| national advertising expenditure (M37) | future life satisfaction (J17) |