Singers and song writers have been telling stories about our hyper-consumerist society for decades, warning us about the long-term effects of a ruthless capitalism and the myth of an infinite growth: “Living in the material world” (George Harrison – 1973), “Spirits in the material world” (The Police – 1981), “Material girl” (Madonna – 1984) and so on and so forth.

We live in a cluttered world, everything is disposable; nothing is ever enough. We seem not to be able to escape the vicious cycle: work – earn – buy/consume. What for? This is a question we don’t even ask ourselves until, one day, we feel depleted. The reason for that is the “meaning” matters. The “why” matters.

For those who can see, change has already taken place. It started slowly but inexorably and its voice is getting louder. A new wave of individuals who are fighting for a cause: climate change, gender equality, black people’s civil rights and animal rights. The supply chain of the clothes they wear is important to them: they want to know if any nasty chemicals are used in the process that will damage the environment; they worry about workers – and demand a decent pay, a better pay for them. They are activists.

Younger generations don’t care that much about “things”. Either because they realise the human race cannot continue to pollute this Earth indefinitely or because they just can’t afford it financially anyway (lower wages – graduate school debt, higher unemployment and less opportunities to stand out from the crowd) or their focus is on how actively challenge and change the status quo (to build a more just and sustainable world). I know that some may question the statement above, saying that in fact we do have nowadays more opportunities than ever before; the matter is complex and has many facets – I’m not going to discuss it here. It will suffice to notice that lowering the threshold to access higher education, as much as it is equitable, it also creates unrealistic expectations which are, in turn, often disappointed: surprisingly, school doesn’t teach you how to solve problems; unfortunately this is exactly what you will be asked to do when someone hires you.

They’d rather watch movies on Netflix, or any other streaming platform, than buy a physical DVD; in the same way the great majority prefer to listen to music on Spotify and are not really interested in owning a CD. In the same manner, younger generations couldn’t be bothered to own a house.

I remember some of my parents’ friends (and a few friends of mine as well), were proud to let everybody know about their holiday home (second house), while my 19-year old daughter spent part of her gap year travelling all over Europe and booked all her stays unfailingly with Airbnb! And I’m pretty sure, had she had a large amount of money, she would have never spent it to buy a first home, let alone a holiday home.

Why? The answer is quite simple and, at the same time, profound: they favour experiences over possession. This is a concept we all need to understand and accept if we want to create and offer them something valuable.

Let’s face it, some form of alienation from the material world has already begun and the proof is the increasing interest in VR and AR. Reality alone is not completely satisfactory anymore and one could argue, what’s “reality” after all if not the way our brain interprets external stimuli from our 5 senses?

I’m sure if you look at your life sincerely, there’s no doubt you will remember more joyfully a pleasant moment with your loved ones, the birth of your first child or your first kiss than the most appealing and beautiful gift you have ever received or bought. Experiences are what everybody truly wants and appreciate but for too long they made us believe otherwise.

Wouldn’t this be a more interesting world to live in?

#entrepreneur #marketing #trends #future #change