Wow ... brands affect our sense of identity and perception .. breathtaking - Neuromarketing - neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/…
— ɔıɔıɾnɹƃ ɐɥsɐs (@SashaG) February 4, 2013
It's not the actual brands creating the happiness, or altering our identities, it is purely the money (power) behind brands thus an expensive Audi is more powerful, a greater source of happiness, than a McD's burger. Life is easier when you have money thus the symbols of money make people feel happier but people are not happier merely because of an empty symbol, they are happy because of the monetary force behind the symbol.
Think about iPads, which are both reasonably expensive and they are powerful devices for communicative creativity. Facilitation of creativity can be valuable for becoming a successful member of civilization, whereas a Disney toy, perhaps Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, is not very expensive and it has no useful power application regarding becoming successful, rich, thus from an adult perspective Buzz Lightyear does not covey much happiness, although from a child's perspective parents who can afford expensive toys for their children, instead of the non-branded toys from poor parents, will make a child feel happier via the branded toys because all kids know rich kids have a better life, rich kids are treated with more respect, which brings me back to the Prom kid driving his Dad's expensive Audi.
The Prom kid realizes his peers will respect him for the monetary status symbol, the Audi symbol of power, which gives him more confidence, more happiness, the freedom to drive around fast, in great comfort, via a precision piece of engineering, it's much better than catching the bus. It is not the mere brands conveying the happiness, it the monetary power behind the brands, and the monetary power is typically linked to direct usefulness.