• by March 2, 2009

A recent story in the new york times bore a telling headline, "Even if You Can't Buy It, Happiness Is Big Business." It's true. The happiness trend has not appeared out of nowhere. In fact, it is an expected correlate of an increasingly materially affluent society, a pattern of development called "post-materialism."

In his work running the World Values Survey, University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart has found that as material development increases, value priorities gradually pivot from materialistic to humanistic. In the United States, journalist Bill Bishop found survey data clearly shows the pivot point for this post-materialism shift occurred during the autumn of 1965, and got a lot of attention at the time. This trend has accelerated during the last two decades.

The rise of humanistic values does not mean the abandonment of material interests. Instead, it means that non-material values take on increasing importance. People still want nicer and bigger material things, but once material advancement can be (more or less) taken for granted, other values take on new priority - individual improvement, personal freedom, empowerment, the environment and, in particular, intangibles like experiences, design, spirituality, relationships, self-expression and, of course, happiness. As these values have become a bigger part of life in markets around the world, intangibles have become a more important part of the consumer value equation.

The experience economy is the most obvious manifestation of how intangibles matter in a post-materialism marketplace. But others include trading up, the you-brand, permission marketing, raving fans, emotional branding and customer delight.

With intangibles firmly in ascendance, the last bit of economic and psychological value associated with tangibles and material pursuits has been eroded by the deteriorating economy of the past two years. Especially over the last six months, people have experienced significant material losses and, as a result, have had to look elsewhere to validate their choices and lifestyles. Additionally, people have coped by looking to intangibles for reassurance and comfort.

As everything around them has gone awry, people look within for strength and inspiration. They feel no hesitation in doing so, drawing from the reserve of self-assurance built up during the consumer empowerment revolution of the past decade. What they find within is a determination not to be daunted or overwhelmed and an ability to look up even as things head down, from which optimism and happiness find expression in the marketplace. Indeed, getting past fear makes people happy.

People are learning that it takes work to be happy. That happiness is not an entitlement and must be learned and earned, particularly if it is to be sustained and not a transitory moment of elation. In the Yankelovich monitor, 74 percent agree that "people have unrealistic expectations about how easy it is to find and maintain happiness."
Two generations are poised to embrace the work involved in happiness - baby boomers and millennials. Boomers are transitioning to a late life stage in which they want one more chance at the fulfillment and meaning that was the early promise of their generation, especially given the events of the past year. Millennials are now coming into their own as the so-called civic generation, and want careers and lifestyles that contribute to issues of substance and impact. Witness the turnaround in youth voting during last year's presidential election in which millennials accounted for 90 percent of Obama's popular vote margin. Both generations are determined to find happiness in everything they do going forward.

The happiness trend is now finding expression in the marketplace. The Happiness & Its Causes conference has sold out in Sydney, London, Singapore and San Francisco and is now entering its fourth year. Pepsi unveiled its "Optimism" campaign during the New Year's holiday. Dunkin' Donuts launched its You Kin' Do It campaign the first week of January. Coke announced its Open Happiness campaign a week later. In the middle of last October's financial meltdown, Oprah showed off her impeccable timing again with the release of O's Big Book of Happiness, just what we needed when we needed it and right on trend with what we want more of right now.