Well, that’s the findings of a recent study, anyway. But I think it also holds up to the “gut test.” Just as the study suggests, experiences tend to linger with us longer through memories that we can draw upon over time. Our initial joy of possessions, on the other hand, tends to fade with time and to be replaced by the desire for and the ultimate pleasure surrounding the acquisition of another possession. Though a small study, it provides yet more evidence that brands that can engage people through meaningful experiences are apt to make people happier.
I’m in the midst of yet another great book — “Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are” by Rob Walker of The New York Times. On page 96, I cam across Walker’s interesting summary of a particular article:
“[Consumers] are banding together, becoming ‘better educated and better organized,’ with a ‘growing familiarity with the mechanics of advertising’ and the endless range of gimmicky sales tactics. They have ’suffered from deceptive and stupid advertising’ long enough, and it is only inevitable that power would shift to them in an economy that has moved from scarcity to abundance. ‘These changes,’ the article summarized, ‘have tended to make consumers more critical and to enhance their importance’.”
Sound familiar? I bet it does; we’ve been reading the same basic message in the ad trade journals for several years, at least. Well, as it turns out, the article quoted above was in the Harvard Business Review. In 1939!
The more things change, the more the stay the same?
So, why would I be talking about trading-up and Wal-Mart? In the world of fast cars, expensive jeans and golf getaways, it doesn’t seem to mix.
But, for the holidays, Wal-Mart is telling people: “The more you save, the more Christmas you can give.” To me, that is the ultimate trading-up. Save money on the everyday things, so that you can make someone else’s Christmas special.
So, if you want to trade up this Christmas, buy some Tide at Wal-Mart, save a few bucks and go buy that special someone in your life a really nice gift that they will remember forever.
