Emotion‐Driven Consumption: A Systematic Review of Measurement, Determinants, and Economic Consequences

Driven by the rapid expansion of the digital economy and changing sociopsychological needs, emotion‐driven consumption has evolved from an individual psychological behavior into a phenomenon affecting consumer welfare and household finance. This paper provides a systematic review of 197 high‐quality studies on emotions and consumer behavior published between 2000 and May 2026. The main findings are as follows. First, the number of relevant publications has increased steadily, while also exhibiting pronounced trends toward international collaboration and interdisciplinary integration. Second, existing studies primarily rely on micro‐level individual data, while econometric models remain the dominant empirical method. Third, the formation of emotion‐driven consumption is jointly shaped by psychological and behavioral characteristics, individual and household attributes, and external environmental stimuli. Fourth, under moderate and rational constraints, emotion‐driven consumption can promote consumption upgrading; however, in the absence of such constraints, it may impair physical and mental health, exacerbate household financial vulnerability, and increase short‐term market volatility and consumer credit risk. Fifth, the existing literature still faces several limitations, and future research should strengthen interdisciplinary theoretical integration, construct long‐term multidimensional databases, and combine natural experiments with machine learning methods.