Consumption of Growing Loneliness
Every year there are gifts that create a great attraction. Sometimes it was an iPhone or an Air Jordan. In 1975, a very different product was added to these desirable products: a rock. You heard right. 1975 was the year of Pet Rock. Selling at four dollars each, the rocks came in a lattice-shaped cardboard box and had cutouts for ventilation. These were, of course, perfectly ordinary stones that could be collected from anyone’s backyard. Each rock came with a 30-page manual for their maintenance. Pet Rocks sold out on the shelves very quickly. More than 1.5 million stones were sold in 1975, making Gary Dahl, the inventor of the idea, a millionaire almost overnight.
Pet Rock was a weird fashion that faded in less than a year. But admiration for him holds a deeper truth about human nature. We can easily ascribe animate and human-like characteristics to clearly inanimate things. The key to Pet Rock’s success is the skillful use of this trend. In 1975, Pet Rock was a fun fashion.
But now in modern times, it can mean something else entirely: A cure for loneliness. This is true. More and more people turn to inanimate objects to meet their unmet social needs. If we can easily see a rock as “human-like”, shall we imagine how we would position artificial intelligence algorithms and anthropomorphic robots in our lives? As we shall see, modern technology is driving the economy of loneliness.
Indeed, many countries around the world are now claiming that we are dealing with an “epidemic of loneliness”. Loneliness is really on the rise. It is not enough to think that this is simply the result of quarantine measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Holt-Lunstad’s research shows that these loneliness tendencies date back to the mid-2010s.
In the United States, loneliness has been on the rise since 2015, especially among the young population. YouGov reports that roughly 30 percent of U.S. millennials report feeling lonely most or all of the time. Similar numbers were found in Asia and Western Europe. In Germany, 70 percent believe loneliness is a serious problem.
If loneliness is the problem, the solution is simple: human connection. But that might be easier said than done. It’s getting harder and harder to “get results the old-fashioned way” to cure loneliness.
In this case, the job is left to the digital world. In addition to friendship and hug services provided on social media and the app, services that produce services in the functional area of life and that help you organize your daily routine have also emerged. But it is necessary to take it one step beyond this.
The perception of purchasing and selectivity of the lone individual is also different from the individual with a family. In a study conducted on individuals trying to survive on their own and complete their loneliness with their choices in America, it is observed that lonely (versus non-lonely) consumers prefer angular shapes instead of circular shapes. It is also determined that the same group interacts more with sales representatives and receives more referrals during store visits.
Research conducted at Sun Yat-sen University, Business School in Guangzhou, China, reveals the importance of experiential purchases for this group.
The research focuses on the impact of experiential purchases on alleviating loneliness. The results show that experiential purchases have a stronger effect on alleviating loneliness than material purchases mediated by relationship building.
It has been proven to help compensate for social ties and alleviate loneliness through experiential purchases such as watching movies or a football match, rather than material purchases for storage or possession such as jewelry or furniture. Compared with material purchases, experiential purchases contribute to greater happiness due to higher WOM value, recognition of self-identity, and close social relationships.
Lonely consumers may have higher emotional preferences for products that emphasize experiences and may therefore find products more appealing to them. As for promotional strategies and action plans for experiential products, companies can clearly highlight the emotional and experiential benefits of products for consumers suffering from social exclusion and loneliness, such as the love-struck and rejected job seekers. Special campaigns and products can be designed for these micro groups.
So what could be the solution?
Circumstances create the atmosphere. Lonely people have a hard time dealing with the burden of life alone. Support in health, organization, shopping and operation services that will make their lives easier is very important.
To be a companion. Communicating like a friend is also critical. The lonely population is often addicted to social media. Marketing should choose to communicate with this group through social media. Community management is a method that will reduce their loneliness and increase brand loyalty.
I am in too. The lone population is another group of customers. Single promotions stand out to support this group. One way to expand your customer base is to make this target audience feel that they are not abandoned.
I was shy while writing my articles, but after reading @Merve Yılmaz’s article, I regained a little more self-confidence. I would like to thank him for his interest in me.
