[vidarh]

I do believe viewers would likely choose the "without commercials" option ahead of time, but chances are good that they would enjoy it less. We're horribly bad at guessing what will provide the best payoff for us over time. And even when we know, we are horribly bad at making use of that knowledge rather than letting ourselves be led by impulses.

To take the lottery example: How many people do you think would opt for $1m today vs. $10000 this year, $12000 the following year, $14000 the year after, and so on, until they'd have received, say, $3m? Pretty much all research into both lottery winners and the way we judge rewards now vs. later indicates that most of us would likely opt for the $1m now, yet be less happy for it over time vs. an option where we can look forward to steadily increasing rewards over a long period of time.

I'd be willing to be that you could show people data on how the options would likely affect their happiness, and the majority of people would still opt for the $1m now, and go out and start spending.