A gift that really gives
Experiences often more satisfying than possessions
What's on your Christmas shopping list? A bunch of stuff, most likely. But if you really want to make someone happy, skip the sweater and give an experience — concert tickets, maybe, or a dinner out.
Tom Gilovich has been studying the relative merits of doing versus owning for years. The Cornell University psychology professor has found that experiences are more satisfying than possessions, partly because experiences connect you with other people more than material goods do.
That's because experiences reflect more of ourselves than do material goods. “However invested you are in material possessions, they remain out there, separate from you,” Gilovich says. “But we are, arguably, the sum total of our experiences.”
It's also fun to anticipate an experience. And while the stuff we own grows old and obsolete, memories of things we did are often burnished with time. We reflect on the accomplishment and the scenery of the climb up the mountain and dwell less on the mosquito bites or the skinned knee.
People born in the years leading up to the 21st century are hip to the happiness power of experiences, and their spending reflects it. In 2015, according to J.P. Morgan, 34 percent of credit card and debit card spending by millennials went toward experiences, categorized as dining, entertainment and travel.
“I definitely prioritize travel and experiences while I am traveling,” says Vanderbilt Ph.D. student Sierra Palumbos, 25. She scrimps on rent by living farther from campus but has toured 18 national parks and recently traveled to Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia.
The growing experience economy is bad news for department stores, where sales have slumped 5 percent from a year ago and are down 12 percent in the past four years. But it bodes well for experience purveyors, such as cruise lines, restaurants and the entertainment industry.
But don't get the idea that experiences have to be vacation-caliber to matter.
“It doesn't have to be a trip to Rome. If you're out hiking in your local park and the sunset breaks just right, you're going to be moved,” Gilovich says.
There's no need to become an ascetic and give up your material goods — and yes, you still have to write a thank-you note for that sweater from the in-laws.
But during this holiday season, and as you ponder your budget at the start of the new year, consider tilting your spending toward experiences. It just might make 2017 a little brighter.
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