Xu, J., &Schwarz, N. (2009). Do we really need a reason to indulge?. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), 25-36.
The authors document consistent discrepancies among consumers’ predicted, actual, and remembered feelings related to indulgence episodes and conceptualize the underlying processes. Consistent with previous research, consumers expect more negative and less positive feelings when they indulge without a reason than when they indulge with a reason (Study 1) or when they indulge as a consolation for poor performance than when they indulge as a reward ...