Presentation by Danielle Vella
"Whoever said that money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop"
To speak plainly, money can buy happiness. Whether it is a new dress, your favorite food, or a vacation, money seems to be the key. Why do we feel so good when we make a purchase? Is it really possible to buy an emotion? What external influences are there? Let’s discuss the variables that go into “buying your happy”.
What is happiness?
As someone who has struggled with mental health, I have found the topic of happiness to be fascinating. Feeling happy is substantially more complicated than one would anticipate. Illnesses such as anxiety or depression can completely stop a person from feeling any form of joy. Chemical imbalances in the brain lead to an abundance of negative feelings and emotions. In order to recover, a number of things can be done, such as medicine, therapy, and more. The goal is to find ways to reach contentment and life satisfaction, however it can be difficult to identify where to start. On my journey to finding happiness again, my initial step was knowing how to define it.
“Happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment"
Having a clear definition can help one understand what they are feeling, when they are feeling it, and further analyze why they feel as they do. Businesses study consumer behavior in order to successfully implement marketing strategies that target happiness and motivation. Knowing people, and what drives them, is the key to success.
Consumer motivation
There are two driving forces behind human action in relation to consumers addressing needs. The first, which is the drive to experience something personally gratifying is referred to as Hedonic Motivation. The other, which is Utilitarian Motivation, is the drive to acquire products that are used to accomplish things.
Motivation and satisfaction
Motivation leads to consumption, leads to satisfaction.
Subconsciously, there are factors, pertaining to hedonic motivation, that guide us. For example, Equity Theory, explains how external influencers affect our level of satisfaction. It proposes that consumers cognitively compare their own level of inputs and outcomes to those of another party in an exchange. I constantly do this. When I purchased the iPhone XR, the newest model at the time, I was incredibly happy. However, my satisfaction quickly diminished upon the arrival of the next model. While I found value in all the great things the XR had to offer, I couldn't help but feel as if I was missing out because I no longer had the newest, shiniest, and most cutting-edge piece of technology. Equity theory applies to everyone and everything. From something as big of a purchase as a new car, to something as little as an order of dessert, comparison is inevitable, and it greatly affects your level of satisfaction.
happiness 101: a business's guide to making consumers happy
Businesses want to keep their products selling and customers returning. In order to do this, it is important to find what attracts consumers. An increasing trend is that it is no longer ok for businesses to sell happy- they have to be happy. People want to know that the businesses they are buying from have authenticity; they are real, genuine, and unique. Employees need to be happy; the business needs to be aligned with the greater good of society, and they have to have a strong customer focus. By doing this, marketing becomes easy.
Emotional Contagion Theory
One of the reasons that marketing can be so easy is because of Emotional Contagion Theory: the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to the emotions surrounding you. Consumers are attracted to positive energy. Happiness is contagious. Giving one consumer a good experience can lead to word-of-mouth marketing. They will spread their positive review to their friends, families, and even post about it on the internet. Establishing a happy business on the inside is what leads to the spread on the outside.
Nostalgia
An emotion that businesses often capitalize off of is nostalgia. It is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. In an interview published through the American Psychological Association, Dr. Krystine Batcho describes how valuable nostalgia can be. Looking back on memories, when in times of distress, can give us feelings of joy and comfort. Nostalgia offers stability in times of uncertainty and is often used as a shining light in dark times; it motivates people to persevere through challenges. Nostalgia is also incredibly social. It provides a sense of unity to people who have a shared experience or memory. We are able to bond with family, strangers, children, all over a time spent together or toy similarly enjoyed.
Marketers try to form this unity and use happiness of old memories to successfully advertise to consumers. In 2014 the Journal of Consumer Research published an article that proved people will pay higher costs for products and aren't as sensitive to prices when they are feeling nostalgic. People also long for a sense of community or connection, so offering products in a way that allow the consumer to feel connected to the company is incredibly effective.
Discussed in an article published on Mint, a company that is doing particularly well in using nostalgia in product advertisement is Clinique. They released a collaboration with Crayola referred to as "Chubby Sticks". These lipsticks are designed to resemble crayons and bring back memories of mimicking putting on lipstick with crayons as a child.
A place near to my heart is Mac's Diner. Located in Clemson, South Carolina, it is truly known by everyone in the Clemson community. Inside Mac's, the food is nothing more than average. However, the experience is what draws in customers. The walls are adorned with pictures of past Clemson University sports teams, congressmen, famous customers, and old newspaper clippings. Not being a native to the area, I could never have anticipated having such a strong pull to the place. The overwhelming feeling of nostalgia when you walk in is what makes me, and many others, want to go back over and over again. You can sit down and listen to the owner tell you stories about who he knows and what he saw. Opened in 1956, with almost no updates to the interior, it is truly a magical place, full of history. Every time I'm in there, I learn something new, grow a greater appreciation of the past, and of course, spend money. There is nothing like a trip down memory lane with a burger, shake, and fries... then maybe some more fries.
MONEY BUYS MENTAL ILLNESS
Perhaps the biggest issue with spending is that it's addictive. If you felt good buying something from Louis Vuitton, why not feel better by buying something from Chanel? Better yet just keep spending money to achieve sustained happiness. That's possible right?
Wrong.
Materialism, or the extent to which material goods are important in a consumer’s life, can destroy happiness. The more reliant people are on material goods for a source of positive emotion, the more unhappy it makes them feel. Quality of life goes down and so does the quality of relationships. All in all, too much of a good thing is a very bad thing.
Does money equal HAPPINESS?
The final answer is yes... for the most part. However, it is important to realize the constraints of money. Increasing your income up until $75,000 is effective in boosting happiness, but anything above that isn't proven to make one any happier in long term. Even lottery winners don't feel long lasting joy. If you want to buy happiness you need to be spending right. Having an Experiential Shopping Orientation is when you are buying experiences, rather than material items. Purchasing experiences, such as travel, are proven to increase happiness. Focusing on intrinsic rewards and benefits will also help you make valuable and meaningful purchases. As Coco Chanel once said: “The best things in life are free. The second best things are very, very expensive.”
references
31 Best marketing images in 2021. Pinterest. (2021, April 26). https://pin.it/1WCpCzh.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Speaking of Psychology: Does nostalgia have a psychological purpose? American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/nostalgia.
Cherry, K. (2020, October 26). How Do Psychologists Define Happiness? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-happiness-4869755.
Happiness Definition: What Is Happiness. Greater Good. (n.d.). https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/happiness/definition.
Madan, S. (2017, January 7). Those good old days and the power of nostalgia. mint. https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/jyHvNAFpaEq9c5mo3DA1yI/Those-good-old-days-and-the-power-of-nostalgia.html.
Taylor, D. (2012, September 7). Brotherly Grub – Chi Delta in Clemson, SC. Updates from the Road. https://chipsifraternity.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/brotherly-grub-chi-delta-in-clemson-sc/.