Buying Happiness

11 Dec Buying Happiness

Stuff might last longer than experiences; but experiences make us happier. Partly because the stuff sticks around for so long—we adapt to it, the “new stuff!” becomes normal, and it fades into the background.

And partly because stuff is always separate from our identities, even when we’re really attached to it. Experiences, on the other hand, become a part of us, and connect us with other people. Leading to greater happiness.

According to researchers, experiences are harder to compare objectively than, say, diamond carats, and thus may be less likely to cause us to feel malevolent over the good fortune of others (aka envy).

The same applies to your business: the experience your customer has with your brand trumps the product you deliver. All the more reason to keep Customer Experience top of mind.

Something to think about this holiday season–and the rest of the year. Read more here.

The author of Messy talks about decluttering

Another plug for experiences rather than stuff: they don’t pile up.

Home organization guru Marie Kondo is a worldwide celebrity, mainly for helping people throw things away. Economist Tim Harford and money editor Bourree Lam explain why she’s so revolutionary (besides helping people control their stuff): she overcomes cognitive biases, like status quo bias, sunk-cost fallacy, and loss aversion.

For instance, she breaks the status quo bias of “the stuff stays because I don’t have a reason to get rid of it” by deftly substituting a new status quo: “Everything goes unless I can think of a really good reason to keep it.” See here and here for more.
 

But of course we’re still going to buy stuff
 

Here are a couple of behavioral science shopping guides to minimize the damage: Behavioral Economists Guide to Buying Presents and  How to Enjoy (and Survive) The Holidays.

And the behavioral science tricks that marketers wield against us (even though awareness doesn’t guarantee immunity).