What am I playing at here? Well, I just wanted to make the point that opting for more experiential consumption (e) actually often ends up equalling material consumption magnified (mc2).
The event which brought this home was when I was on holiday in Ecuador and we were visiting a reserve which had set up a (very popular) bird feeder.
We had arrived early and got our fill of taking pictures. Then came a battalion of Japanese tourists who were clearly photographers in a different league. It is appropriate to use military vocabulary as these individuals were in full camouflage gear and burdened with bulky backpacks. It turns out these contained a quite extraordinary complement of photographic equipment: endless very very long telescopic lenses, stands, digital display units and other items I cannot name.
These were clearly individuals who had achieved a comfortable level of affluence. They were now ‘doing experiences’ but doing so had clearly triggered a whole new set of purchasing – material consumption magnified.
In my own household I have noticed a similar trend. After careful deliberation, we have made a conscious choice to funnel our spending into good holidays and less on ‘stuff’ (accepting we have to drive old bangers and cope with unglamorous bathrooms as a result). However, we still seem to have been keeping Amazon in business, ordering at least six binoculars (upgrades, replacements), telescopes, boots, performance clothing etc. But it has produced good memories, which is the key thing behind experiences.
