Experiential products make you happier

The Prospectory’s main interest is in experiential products – especially eco-friendly ones.

We may be facing a world where we can no longer afford the rate of material consumption which has sustained our consumer economy to date so it’s good news that a growing body of research shows that experiential purchases make consumers happier for longer than material purchases. In fact, there is no evidence that increased levels of material consumption in recent decades have increased happiness levels at all.

Obviously, experiential purchases are not necessarily any more environmentally friendly but they have that potential as they don’t necessarily involve consuming materials or the energy required for constant construction, waste and recycling.
We’ve written before about how experiential products are more satisfying because they leave more room for individual creativity in expression and interpretation. They are also more social and they provide good stories to tell our friends and family so tend to grow in value with the repeated telling whilst their material equivalents decay in value from the moment of purchase onwards.

A recent research study suggests that experiential purchases provide much more satisfaction because they are less open to comparison with other non-purchased options. With material purchases, such comparisons are easy to make and there’s nearly always a better or cheaper option you could have chosen – if not now, then certainly in a few month’s time. These comparisons leave one less satisfied with the product you actually bought. With experiences (holidays, restaurant meals, a rugby game or a sailing trip), one tends not to be looking for “the best option” and one tends to evaluate one’s enjoyment without reference to comparable experiences one might have spent money on. This leaves the consumer much happier and this happiness, it seems, is sustained over time.