Work

The Utilities of Beauty and Money are Largely Additive

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Beauty is typically excluded from quantitative models of economic value. We use BDM-auction and 2AFC tasks to find instead that the feeling of beauty increases willingness to pay, and its utility combines with that of money in a largely additive way. The contribution of beauty to utility is nearly independent of money’s contribution, with only a small interaction effect. These results show that incorporating beauty as a component of utility can greatly enhance prediction of choice and valuation.

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/39jen_v1

Authors: Youjing Luo, Anna Bruns, Laurence T. Maloney, Olivia S. Cheung, Denis G. Pelli

Institution: New York University

Language: English

Topic: Economic and Environmental Valuation

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7204191704

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