FYI, the last word in the first paragraph "manner" I think should be "matter".
I think that this brings up a very good point. The main three point of focus when making investment decisions are expected return, risk and correlation! I have never really thought about the expressive benefits associated with investment decisions. I believe this post in the fact that individuals value other benefits besides these previously mentioned factors when making investment decisions. Expressive benefits are considered in other decisions and I strongly believe they are considered in investment decisions as well!

This article is really interesting. If an investment with expressive benefits can make you better off, the decision made to invest it may be still a rational one. It is just like consumption in economic theory, which makes an investor having higher utility compared to other investments. Whether the return is high or low may not be the point.

This is a very interesting topic. I had never considered an "expressive" dimension of investing. I've dabbled in the market a bit, and I've solely focused on return-- I've never invested in a company based on status, social mission, etc.

I don't see this changing any time soon: the reason I invest is to get back a healthy return on my investment, period. I would never invest in a company just because I like how the company is perceived, or what they contribute to the well-being of society...unless they can make me a lot of money, of course!

It is a very good point. Before I read this post, I only know the three characteristics of an investment. I only care about how to make more return from the money invested. I never thought about utilitarian and expressive benefits. Actually, utilitarian and expressive are around us every day. People just think they are regular rules, and do not really pay attention to them. This post will bring people to make their investment decision more seriously. Also they will think about how to make their investments more valuable than they did before.

I think that those investment attributes are correct. Most people will only think about investment return, risk, and correlation to other investments. When researching possible investments one should look at more things than just those. I look at what the company does and if it showing questionable practices I would not invest in it. Other things matter besides just return, risk, and correlation.

I believe that this is very true. People want a high return on their investments, but will still invest in companies or products that they have a connection to. A person against something will probably not invest in that business even if it has a high return, otherwise it might show that their beliefs are not of value to them. People want to fit in. They want to be with their class. They want to look good for their neighbors. That's how society works, even when related to investments.

I agree with the author that there are two kinds of benefits the investment brings to the investor.However, most investors invest the company or project for the reason that they will be profitable rather than those "expressive" characteristics. If the company fails to bring investors good return,the investors will not put money in it even they have expressive benefits.

I agree with what the author is saying when it comes to both the different categories of benefits. For some people it is merely about the status of what they own and what they are investing in, while on the flip side a more practical person would choose to own and invest in products that would give them a return on investment and up their profit.

Either way people are still going to invest their money in the way that they choose to and it is not entirely based on those two categories.

This article really shows that we, as a society,have so many definitions of what people should be looking at to make their decisions. For example, the characteristics of investments. In reality, much of society is just looking to the expressive benefits of potential purchases. Basically, we will invest in something if it makes us look good, even if it is not a good investment.

This post brings to the forefront an important but often overlooked point of investment. Upon first glance, the three things you address are return, risk, and correlation. It takes thought to realize that the expressive issues are also relevant and a deciding factor. I think the reason this is commonly overlooked is because the expressive benefits decisions seem to be subconscious and not as easily identifiable as the utilitarian benefits. The fact that the last part of the post asks what expressive benefits I am interested in and I was not sure off hand shows that these are often overlooked.

I think the most improtant thing in the investment is how to select the aompany will operate will in the future. I think to estimate the future is very difficult so that I think to understand and estimate the risk is very improtant. The trad off of the risk and profit is difficult to dicoded.

Growth Potential and Risk. Those are the two most important things I look for when investing. In most cases the higher the growth potential the more risk is involved most likely. But then again if a stock isn't risky, it probably isn't growing too much either.

The idea of status while investing (unless you've got more money than you know what to do with) doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The idea of investing, in my eyes, has always been to make money. You invest in a company or idea in hopes that it will take off, and in return you will make money on the fact that you found that stock while it was relatively new or cheap, and obviously now it is worth more. So while people may invest in renewable energy, or hybrid cars, in my eyes it wouldn't be because they are environmentally conscious(like we should be) but instead it is for the fact that the idea of renewable energy is becoming trendy and spreading quickly.

I agree that most people do only consider the return, risk, and correlation when looking into investing. People need to look deeper into a company when investing their money.

I think that money is always the important to investors. Even if how expressive benefits attract the investors, if the company doesn't make money for them, will they invest more and more money on this company? I don't think so. So, I think the other benefits are based on those three characteristics.

This article is very interesting, because I never thought about expressive benefits of investements. Long before reding this article, I knew that most people invest to get utiltarian benefits, but most of them might not think about expressive benefits. However, I think a few people might invest to represet their identity in a society, which could distinguish them, who have more professional knowledge about investment, from another people, or to represent their value for society, which is redustribution of wealthy, for example, Warren Edward Buffett.

I believe if one is investing in anything they should look at all the aspects of both utilitarian and expressive benefits. A combination of any of these benefits could be a great investment choice. A wise decision takes into account all of the options when making a financial decision.

I think most people who are investing in the market are really looking at return and risk. I don't believe many people are paying attention to the other social aspects of the stocks. As long as you pay close attention to your stocks, I don't believe it really matters.

I dont have any money in the market, but if I did, I would probably choose a handful of stable stocks that I know would be around until I retire and cash out-I wouldnt try any 'get-rich-quick strategy'.

In a marketing class in high school, we played one of those fake stock market games and I had a friend that invested heavily in Krispy Kreme doughnuts just because he liked them. He didnt win. I wonder what he thought he was getting or why he did that...religious beliefs? I dunno, people do crazy things just because sometimes.

I believe the basis of investing for most people is on risk and return. However, i think people also look at (or hopefully look at) what and who there really investing in. The purpose of investing is to make money, but it should be more than that, i think you should support the companies you really believe in. Companies that lie on there taxes or treat there employees unfairly don't deserve the support of the stock market or investment because it inevitably comes back to hurt us.

I think people place risk and return in either first or second. Investing doesn't show the social status; people only care how their stocks are doing and what they will get in the future.

After reading this article, I suddenly ask myself why people try to invest a lot in their life? People invest for variable reason, but is the money just can’t be enough for them? I don’t like the way that some people invest their money on, investing make your life stressful.

The investment expressive benefits that are important to me are return and risk. Im still learning about investing but have experimented in the past. I only invest money which i can lose. I hope i develop the knowledge to invest in companies that are relatively low risk while earning a good return.

This is a really interesting topic. Obviously high return and risk are going to effect which stocks people want, but I think in many cases people choose stocks that have special meaning to them, such as religion or patriotism. Although these might not be the most important factor, when chooses between different stocks, this could be factors which help people decided between stocks to invest in.

People who invest for the "expressive" might just believe it is a good investment without much research or just because they would take the research with a bag of salt instead of a grain. If a person only hangs out with like-minded people then they tend to think that is the majority because it is the majority of what they are used to. Just as an example; heavy drinkers who hangout with all heavy drinkers think it is normal, even though about 30% of the adult population doesn't drink at all.

I agree that the three most important points to look at are expected return, risk, and correlation. However, I also look at growth potential when looking at investing.

As a college student, I am probably not one of the powerful members in the investing world. However, being majored in Business for more than two years, I believe I do have the awareness of making my money in hands now worth more in the future.
Today, in my Finance class, my professor has once more confirmed my believes. Due to time value of money, inflations, and all kinds of factors, the same dollar I have today may not be able to purchase as much stuff some years later. I like my professor's example: if I have $100 dollars today, I may buy ten ice creams; but some years later, they may cost me $105 or more.So anyway, it's important for me to invest my money even just on very small interest rate. So that's basically what I did for the past years.
My husband and I put our saving into CDs which are those kinds of risk-free long term savings. Although the interest rate is sadly low, but at least we still make some interests on it. The important thing is whenever we need the money, we can pull it out at no penalty. And when the term ends, we know for sure that we are going to get our money back plus a certain amount of "bonus". And we know for sure the exact amount of the "bonus" we will get. It's neither high return nor exciting investing actions, but it's good to feel secure.