Happiness economics is not far off – Business – Kommersant

Researchers at the marketing and communications company Wunderman Thompson believe that the main consumer trend of the current year will be the desire of people for a positive experience, a distraction from the stress that they experienced in the previous two years due to the pandemic, military conflicts and rising inflation. People want services that lift their spirits, bright colors in products, positive news in their feeds. This has been noticed by many companies and organizations that already offer related products. Experts called the formation of such a proposal “Joyconomy”.

Fatigue from stress

“Everything suggests that the past year has become quite gloomy and chaotic – problems in the economy, instability in politics and environmental degradation have not gone away. But people are determined to withstand adverse conditions, introduce and consume innovations and find joy even in difficult circumstances,” reads the January report Wunderman Thompson. The company’s researchers believe that the key consumer trend in 2023 will be the demand for positive emotions – after two years of a pandemic, lockdowns, constant uncertainty, disturbing rumors and even more disturbing news.

Many companies have felt this mood and already offer products and services that bring positive emotions, experiences and joy. This, according to the researchers, led to the emergence of such a trend as “Happiness” (Joyconomy). “We have found that even in these turbulent times, companies have limitless options to provide consumers with what they need. Let the optimism unfulfilled last year be transformed into an opportunity to finally experience joy this year,” said Emma Chu, director of international research at Wunderman Thompson Intelligence.

The researchers note that one of the most important needs was the desire of people to see more positive news.

For this reason anonymous compliment app Gas last fall entered in the top downloads of all free mobile apps, surpassing even TikTok in terms of new downloads. The developers expected that the search for positive features in the people around them and anonymous compliments could help not only young users who are going through a difficult transitional age, self-doubt or even school aggression, but also people of other ages. But the results exceeded all expectations. The application was released in August, and by the beginning of October, more than half a million people had downloaded it. In October, the number of active users of Gas reached 1 million users, and the number of daily downloads – about 30 thousand.

The app, which is currently only available in the US, prompts the user to answer a series of questions, such as “Which of your friends has the most radiant smile?”, After which this acquaintance receives a special symbol in the form of a light – but does not know who exactly he received this compliment. The explosive growth in popularity of Gas led to the fact that in mid-January this application was bought by the Discord platform. The amount of the purchase is not called, but industry media reportthat back in 2020, Discord raised $100 million to buy promising startups operating outside the gaming industry, which Discord once started with.

“Brands are increasingly encouraging a positive attitude and desire to play among consumers of all ages,” say Wunderman Thompson researchers, describing a trend called “Game beyond age”.

They cite the launch of McDonald’s Happy Meal sets for adults in the US as an example of such a trend. This is a joint project of McDonald`s with the design company Cactus Plant Flea Market, which has already become famous thanks to its collaborations with Nike. For such a limited set, four toys are being produced so far based on fictional characters from commercials popular in the USA in the 1970-1980s – the Grimace, the Burger Thief, the Birdy and the Cactus Man. “Many people remember their first happy-meal and what kind of toy it was,” Wunderman Thompson notes. “Now, such sets for adults allow you to refresh those very first, good childhood memories.”

The launch of nostalgic characters paid off. Demand for such happy miles turned out to be high – according to data specialized media, weekly traffic in American McDonald`s restaurants jumped by 30% in October. And some sets even became resell at online auctions – on eBay, sealed sets are sold at a price of up to $ 2.4 thousand, and at another online auction, four unopened sets with all the toys in the collection are offered for $ 300 thousand. However, so far there have been no applications for this lot.

My original color since childhood is bright pale pink.

In December, the American Color Institute Pantone named the color of the year 2023 – a rich pink, dubbed Viva Magenta. “This year’s Color of the Year is powerful and inspiring. This is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encourages experimentation and self-expression without limits, an electrifying and boundless hue that manifests itself as a standout statement. Viva Magenta welcomes one and all with the same passion for life and rebellious spirit. press release Pantone.

Wunderman Thompson notes that manufacturers have already picked up on this trend – at the Paris Fashion Week, Jean-Paul Gaultier presented a collection dominated by vibrant vibrant colors – pink, red, blue. The collection from Valentino also received a whole palette of juicy positive colors – royal blue, green neon, rich orange. “Beauty is the ability to withstand adverse conditions, not the desire to escape from reality,” said Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.

A good stress reliever for visuals can be museum visit programs visual arts. At the end of last year, the Brussels Medical Center at the University of Brugmann launched a six-month pilot project, in which the doctors of the center prescribe free visits to some local museums with which they have signed an agreement with patients complaining of constant stress, depression, increased nervousness, etc. . A similar “cultural stress therapy” project was launched last year in Greece, with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture, the National Museum of Modern Art and the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.

Another tool that has long and well established itself in the fight against stress and depression is physical activity.

But if we add elements of carefree play characteristic of children and movements characteristic of a state of joy to physical exercises, we get “positive workout” (Joy Workout).

This is exactly what she described in the June article for The New York Times a new method of dealing with stress by well-known writer, psychologist and professor at Stanford University Kelly McGonigal. According to the results of her research, if you add a few movements characteristic of a rejoicing person to the usual exercises in the gym – clapping your hands, jumping, waving your arms, etc., this allows you to even better improve your mood and relieve stress. According to the psychologist, any fitness instructors and trainers can easily use this technique.

Stress management and constant monitoring of it has become a matter not only for scientists and psychologists, but also for manufacturers of fitness trackers. Garmin in their sports watches already uses special algorithms for analyzing pulse, respiration and heart rate variability (HRV) for 24/7 online stress level determination. When stress levels are high, Garmin watches may recommend that the wearer do breathing exercises or some yoga exercises.

In August, Fitbit released the new Sense 2 smart watch, which plays a significant role definition stress levels and general emotional state of a person. Based on the results of measuring heart rate variability, the watch gives a result that measures the current level of stress and emotional state on a scale of eight steps – high stress, anxiety, excitement, sadness, calmness, joy, admiration, euphoria, etc. Depending on the result the watch can recommend a particular physical exercise, meditation or other activity to the user that will help to experience positive emotions.

Many experts note that the fight against stress with the help of wearable smart devices, whose sensors and algorithms have improved significantly in recent years, is useful not only from a commercial point of view, but also from a social and scientific point of view.

“Fitness trackers and similar devices are increasingly addressing specific complex challenges such as combining physical activity, current physiological parameters, and determining the current psychological state of the wearer,” says an August research Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA). “Such measurements and techniques help to find ways of non-invasive influence on the psycho-emotional state of a person.”

Evgeniy Khvostik