Analysing the Impact of Advertising Expenditure on National Happiness and Economic Development: A Cross-National Study

Abstract

This paper examines the correlation between advertising expenditure per capita, subjective well-being (happiness) and economic development variables in 120 countries. Using country-level data released by the World Happiness Report, World Bank, and Global Innovation Index (2024) we have used Pearson correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple linear regression to investigate the relationship between these constructs. It has been found that advertising expenditure per capita has a significant and positive relationship with national happiness scores (r =.578, p<.001), which is enhanced by the application of log-transformation (r =.778, p<.001). The regression model identified Human Development Index (HDI), GDP per capita and economic freedom as the best predictors of happiness (Adjusted R² =.619). The results of ANOVA showed that there are statistically significant differences in happiness between economic development quartiles (F = 58.37, p < .001). Such results indicate that advertising markets can be a barometer and an enabler of the larger socioeconomic well-being, and the findings can have implications on development policy and cross-national happiness studies.