Abstract: Experiential consumption refers to the consumption behavior with the purpose of obtaining an experience, while material consumption refers to the consumption behavior with the purpose of obtaining a kind of material goods. Previous studies found that these two different types of consumption have many different effects across different fields. Our study summarizes major research paradigms, assessment tools and research approaches used in past studies. Besides, differences in psychological and behavioral effects of these two types of consumption across different domains were summarized. Future research may pay more attention to the antecedents and internal dimensions of different consumption types, emphasize model construction, consider using search engine query data, and examine the possible “dark side” of experiential consumption.

Key words: experiential consumption, material consumption, research methods, psychological effect, behavioral effect