Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a new theory of human nature to explain the happiness paradox of capitalism.Design/methodology/approach – It is argued that happiness crisis in capitalism stems from the lack of full understanding of human nature which is like a black box from...

This paper attempts to show that sustainable consumption depends on individual’s pursuit of subjective well-being or happiness. Under the influence of global consumer culture, people believe that the more they consume the happier they will be. Therefore, they keep spending more for greater...