Professor Joe Goodman’s research has some timely lessons for holiday shoppers. Adele Peters writes on the FastCompay website that Goodman has found that giving an experience instead of a physical thing makes the recipient happier.
“Experiences are great and lead to happiness because they tend to be more unique and less comparable than material goods,” he says. “But what that also means is because they’re more unique and less comparable, I need to know a lot about you to find an experience you’ll really enjoy.”
And that’s something he thinks more people should do. As more research continues to drive home the point that experiences make people happier, there are a few signs that the market is also changing, with a few new services that try to help you find experiences rather than objects.
Image: Flickr, The Commons: Santa Claus and models: Sarasota, Florida; Sarasota, Florida, 1965
