To Possess or to Experience: Personal Values and Sociocultural Context Moderated Age Differences in Purchase Evaluations

Purchase decisions have important implications for consumers' well‐being. Age‐related motivation changes may affect purchase preferences, while personal values and sociocultural context can moderate the age differences. This study investigates age‐related differences in experiential versus material purchase evaluations and the moderating effects of personal values and sociocultural contexts with participants aged 20–78 years from the United States ( N = 201) and China ( N = 212). A significant country × personal value × age three‐way interaction on purchase evaluation was found. Age was negatively related to experiential purchase preference for Chinese participants with lower self‐transcendence or openness‐to‐change values. Such a relationship became weaker or even positive for Chinese participants with higher self‐transcendence or openness‐to‐change values. However, no age‐related main effects or interactions were significant in American participants. The study provides insights into age‐related differences in consumers' purchase preferences and highlights the critical roles of personal values and sociocultural contexts.