In an age where energy consumption is the major source of environmental impacts, the comprehension on how energy use affects quality of life is ever more relevant. Multiple elements in the link may act as. a barrier, except for one crucial concept often ignored: Energy Services (ES), the closest contact between end-uses of energy and human satisfaction. This study explores the link through such concept by analysing how 17 predictors associate to six dimensions of ES satisfaction in two income groups. Data is gathered from two locations within one political region (Mexico), so as to control for culture and climate, and the analysis is made based on regional comparisons of principal component analyses and regressions on the data. The findings suggest that ES and commodities are prioritised differently as income rise, and that materially-based gains on ES show general decreasing returns to scale, being largest on "essential" ES in the lower incomes. Additionally, household characteristics seem to be the most relevant within these material predictors, placing energy use and commodities (including better technology) second in importance. These results suggest crucial theoretical and policy implications on development strategies also discussed in the study. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.