The Search for Happiness Saves Billions
An interesting albeit morbid finding emerged when the Italian financial press looked at the pathologies of sadness plaguing Japanes: suicides and job losses linked to mental illness cost as much as a whole fiscal stimulus.
Business and political economists who are still doubtful about the relevance of emotional factors in the economy, should consider this: depression cost the country €300 billion over the last twelve years. The Japanese government has reacted by launching a task force to prevent the disease. Pre-emptive measures include... marketing leverage! A communication campaign was launched with the help of Kengo Nakamura, the popular Kawasaki Frontale mid-fielder.
The pursuit of happiness is not merely a societal chimera, but an inalienable right, at least according to the American Declaration of Independence. Although one could scoff at the space devoted to happiness handbooks in bookstores, marketing researchers cannot avoid exploring the reasons behind the success of these books and, in general, about the factors driving our happiness or unhappiness. If it is true (and scientific research has proved it) that money and material goods do not buy happiness, it is also true that what makes us happy – typically, creative individual activities and relations with others – are pervaded by consumption. A recent US study shows that non-work socialization occasions are the ones most prized by people, such as the collective viewing of a football game. Happiness can reside in the activity in itself, rather than in the attainment of a particular objective, especially when immersing oneself in a creative task. We feel happy when we are able to fully express ourselves through an activity, be it performing a choreography, cooking a gourmet dish, drafting of a book or playing a piece of music The Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defined 'flow' this state of total immersion that accompanies creative activity, the expression of talent, rather than the execution of a challenging task: in this sense happiness can be considered as the first product of this state of full immersion. These occasions of sharing and personal fulfillment are not independent from consumer experiences. A purchasing experience characterized by strongly positive emotions does not only make the customer happy, but the companies promoting it as well. A recent cross-industry study by CERMES (Valdani, Soscia, Zarantonello, ExTra: Experience and Trust) which looked at 32 companies and more than 2,000 consumers, has verified how implementing the experiential dimension engenders a relationship of trust between customers and firms.
Thus, managers who are judicious about using the levers of marketing persuasion and consumers who are aware of her/his priorities can happily become complicit in memorable consumer experiences.