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The Connection Between Happiness and Service Businesses: A Preliminary Study

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Abstract

Happiness may be one of the most important goals that many people pursue in the world. This study adopts a qualitative approach to investigate the determinants of happiness for Taiwanese/Chinese people. Further, we investigate related service opportunities for happiness via a field survey of 808 respondents. This study identifies four happiness segments for people in Taiwan/China: Influential & Outgoing, Adequately Settled, Pleasure Seeking, and Young & Restless. These four happiness segments differ markedly in terms of characteristics and potential service opportunities. The findings of this study have implications for researchers who are seeking to understand happiness in an Asian country.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Rd., Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Hung-Chang Chiu

  2. Department of Information Management, National Central University, 300, Jhongda Rd., Jhongli City, Taoyuan County, Taiwan

    Yi-Ching Hsieh

  3. Creativity Laboratory, Industrial Technology Research Institute, 195, Section 4, Chung Hsing Rd., Hsinchu City, Taiwan

    Huey-Jiuan Yeh

  4. School of Continuing Education, Chinese Culture University, 231, Sec. 2, Chien-Kuo S. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan

    Chien-Liang Kuo

  5. School of Business and Economics, Indiana University South Bend, 1700 Mishawaka Ave., South Bend, IN, 46615, USA

    Monle Lee

  6. Institute of Applied Arts, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Rd., Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Der-Jang Yu

Authors
  1. Hung-Chang Chiu
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  2. Yi-Ching Hsieh
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  3. Huey-Jiuan Yeh
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  4. Chien-Liang Kuo
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  5. Monle Lee
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  6. Der-Jang Yu
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Correspondence to Monle Lee.

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Chiu, HC., Hsieh, YC., Yeh, HJ. et al. The Connection Between Happiness and Service Businesses: A Preliminary Study. J Happiness Stud 12, 841–860 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-010-9230-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-010-9230-x

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