COMLEY REPORTS

An Introduction to Happiness 1

COMLEY REPORTS

EDITION 3 PRECURSOR

AN INTRODUCTION TO HAPPINESS

An Introduction to Happiness 32 Comley Reports

A PRECURSOR TO COMLEY 3

This report is a precursor to Comley 3; the next edition in the series, where we will be sharing the findings of our research with Professor Alex Gunz, from the University of Manchester, on happiness, available in Autumn 2014.

You can find our previous Comley Reports at www.comleyreports.co.uk.

COMLEYREPORTS:AN INTRODUCTION TO HAPPINESS

Trends that make your customers happy

This report describes Join the Dots’ unique framework for making brands successful. It outlines the five key drivers that make people happy. Brands that can help consumers be happy will have higher loyalty and sales. However, the world is continually changing and the ways that people strive for happiness are constantly evolving. We focus on 15 trends in the way people are now seeking happiness and highlight how brands can use them to their advantage.

A personal introduction

I have recently published a book about economics and inflationi. As part of the research for that, I was looking in detail at how we calculate GDP. I was fascinated to read about how some governments (including the UK one) are now seriously considering redefining it in terms of the well-being of the population, rather than their expenditure. This led me into the world of positive psychology and happiness.

At the same time as this, I was working with Kelly McKnight and her Trends team. I was helping them put some structure around the consumer trends that they were uncovering.

I suddenly had one of those light bulb moments when I joined the dots between my two worlds of interest. I realised that what was driving these consumer trends we were discussing was, in fact, well-being and happiness. The more we looked at the framework, the more we realised how good it was at explaining consumer trends. Moreover, it helped us uncover other trends that we’d not discovered before.

However, to me, the best thing about it is that it is relatively simple to grasp, but potentially a very powerful tool for brand messaging and as an aid to brand planning. I hope you find the report both stimulating and as thought provoking as we do.

PETE COMLEYFounder & Board Director

Join the Dots



Behaviourist theory(Watson 1913)

Needs based motivation(Maslow 1954)

Happiness theory(Seligman 2003)

There have been many attempts over history to explain human motivation. From ancient times, philosophers, such as Aristotle and Epicurus, have argued that people seek to attain a happy and tranquil life without pain i.e. to maximise our happiness.

When the discipline of psychology first evolved, it initially adopted very similar thinking. In 1913, John Watson proposed the behaviourist model of human motivationii. It argued that our actions were the result of conditioning and reinforcement, i.e. we tend to repeat behaviours that are pleasurable and avoid those that cause pain. This spawned much research, including many studies showing that animals (usually rats) too are similarly motivated positively by pleasure (usually cheese) and to avoid pain (usually electric shocks).

Nearly fifty years later and psychologists are beginning to argue that human needs are all a bit more complicated than this. It was around this time that Abraham Maslow proposed the Hierarchy of Needsiii, in which he suggested that people work their way up through a series of needs, i.e. Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, and finally, Self-Actualization.

Roll on another half century and psychological theories have changed again. This time, they have been influenced by a new branch of thinking called Positive Psychologyiv. In this, attention has switched from examining the 5% of the population with mental issues, to examining the other 95% and trying to determine what would make them even healthier. In particular, this spawned a theory of human motivation called, colloquially, Happiness theory. This theory proposes that the way we choose our life-course is to attempt to maximise our feelings of happiness and well-being.

WHY HAPPINESS MATTERS –

THE THEORY

There is a lot of face validity to the theory. Our lives now are very different to those of ancient Greece, or even the suffering of the post war period. It makes sense that our theories should evolve. Modern day drugs have alleviated much of the basic suffering and pain of earlier times. In the western world, standards of living are such that few lack their basic needs. Instead of living a simple agrarian existence, we live in a much more complex world, where consumption is the driving force of our economy. In this consumerist world, brands have a key role to play in aiding us to be happy.

It therefore makes sense that brands that can enhance basic happiness are going to be sought out. Moreover, reinforcement theory shows that we will seek to repeat any behaviour that is pleasurable.

Therefore, brands that can enhance our happiness in some way are going to result in higher loyalty and enhanced sales. Happiness matters. The rest of this report, therefore, focuses on providing a detailed understanding of what things make people happy and the latest ways in which brands are trying to tap into these drivers.

Ozoda Muminova, Guardian Media Insight Manager, August 2013v

“Brands can activate

happiness. Brands influence

people’s sense of well-being

by empowering them.”


Research into happiness is a fairly recent phenomenon. The term Positive Psychology was only coined in the late 1990s, by Martin Seligman, who was the then chair of the American Psychological Association. Despite the very first conference being held on the subject in 2002, by 2006, it had become the most popular course for students at Harvard University.

It has spawned a massive amount of research into not only what makes people happy, but also who is the happiest. This research has unveiled some staggering findings. For example, properly controlled studies have shown that those who have a positive emotional outlook are half as likely to catch colds and an optimist’s risk of having a heart attack is markedly lower.

The mechanisms for this are far from clear. Researchers think it is a combination of:

1. Optimists taking action over their health, as they believe they can influence their outcome.

2. Happy people ending up with more friends and social support.

3. Biological mechanisms, be they via well-being genes or chemicals produced by happy people.

The findings even show that those who smile more, live longer. An intriguing bit of research was recently publishedvi, looking at how long league baseball players lived, dependent on whether they smiled in their team photo in 1952. The results clearly showed that, in the USA, smilers lived longer.

Data source: Abel & Kruger (2010)

Copyright: Scott County Historical Society (http://www.tngenweb.org/scott/fnb_v01n3_oneida_baseball_team.htm)

HAPPINESS RESEARCH FINDINGS

THE EFFECT OF SMILING UPON LIFE EXPECTANCY

73

No Smile Part Smile Full Smile

75 80


There has also been a lot of research into happiness in the work placevii. Those who are happiest are estimated to be 47% more productive and take only 1.5 sick days a year, compared with the 6 days taken by the average worker in a year.

In addition, happiness and well-being has attracted the attention of governments around the globe, and especially that of the UK. We have even made the measurement of happiness a core national statistic.

Numerous studies in the UK have shown that happiness is highest in younger people, and older people who have recently retired (up to the age of 70). Its nadir comes in the late forties/early fifties, when the simultaneous pressures of teenage children, ageing parents and progression in ever demanding careers, collide to make life hard for many.

A number of people have attempted to list the key factors that are linked to happiness. There is evidence to suggest a certain genetic element in our emotions. However, overwhelmingly, our overall happiness and well-being is affected by our circumstances and how we choose to react to them.

One of the first positive psychologists, Martin Seligmanx, recently proposed that the key drivers of well-being were related to PERMA, i.e. Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and Accomplishments.

The UK government’s Foresight programme in 2008 spurred the New Economics Foundation (NEF) to publishxi its own review of all the research into well-being. This has provided a framework that has been adopted by many government agencies in the UK. They proposed five actions we could all take in our day-to-day lives to enhance our well-being: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, and Give.

Note though, there is a certain amount of controversy on how happiness and well-being is best measured in these analyses. Indeed, the two terms are clearly not identical, though many people use them interchangeably. For most research though, it is normal to use a combination of measures – evaluation (life satisfaction), experience (momentary mood) and eudemonia (purpose)viii. We at Join the Dots are currently working with Manchester Business School on developing alternative, instantaneous measures of happiness, which we will report on in the Autumn.

Having reviewed all the academic literature with Manchester Business School, we have developed our own list of happiness drivers. They very much follow the work of others, but we have adopted slightly different labels to make them easier to understand.

In addition, we have distinguished each factor on a sliding scale, from those that are primarily personal and internally focused, to those that depend largely on others, i.e. externally focused. We have done this on the premise that it is usually easier to improve your happiness by changing things internally.

OURMODEL OFHAPPINESS

HAPPINESS BY AGE

4.8

5.0

5.2

5.4

5.6

5.8

4.6

18 26 34 42 50 58 66 74 82

MY HAPPINESS

INTERNAL

HAPPINESS DRIVERS

EXTERNAL

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Karma

Success

Source: British Household Panel Study


ACHIEVEMENT

Many derive sense of well-being from their accomplishments or making their mark on the lives of others. Goal setting can not only help people achieve things, but also provides a sense of purpose. Although achievement can be via formal learning, such as education or at work, it can be any type of challenge where you learn something new, e.g. from fixing a problem with your bike, to cooking a new recipe.

RELATIONSHIPS

It has long been known that positive relationships are critical in promoting happiness. Evidence shows that having commitment to family, friends and social contacts not only promotes belonging and well-being, but strongly protects against mental health issues. Feeling close to, and valued by, other people is a fundamental human need and one that contributes to functioning well in the world. In addition to having deep relationships, happiness is also obtained from having a breadth of social connections.

MEANING AND PURPOSE

Research has shown that feelings of happiness and life satisfaction have been strongly associated with active participation in social and community life. For many, this is facilitated via religion, though in these more secular times, many find purpose in other ways. Giving and helping others is linked with happiness.

POSITIVE EMOTIONS

One’s psychological view on life has long been known to be important for overall happiness. Life provides many challenges and potential stresses. Those that are able to approach them more positively can alleviate many of the physiological negatives that are associated with stress and genuinely live a happier life. Although some of one’s Karma is inherited, there is still much that people can do to enhance it.

ENGAGEMENT

Often referred to recently as ‘mindfulness’. Psychologists denote the engaged state when you lose yourself in something as ‘flow’. It occurs typically when you are doing something that utilises your natural strengths. But there is more to Focus than just flow. Happiness can be obtained from simply being in tune and aware of what is going on around us e.g. savouring experiences. Furthermore, heightened awareness enhances our self-understanding and allows us to make better choices for our well-being.

HAPPINESS DRIVERS

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Happiness theory very much builds upon the previous psychological models of human behaviour. It acknowledges the role of basic needs and also that of behaviourism, i.e. human actions are motivated to enhance rewards (i.e. happiness) and reduce unpleasant experiences.

However, what it does not do, per se, is explain why the behaviours we adopt are continually changing. To do this, we have developed a simple framework that shows how these happiness drivers are influenced by external factors, and also by the basic human desire for something new. We argue that it is from the confluence of all these that the trends in human behaviour then emerge.

Trends are clearly affected by external factors and the evolving environment in which we live. As it changes, new opportunities arise for us to gain happiness across the five drivers. These influencing factors can be at many levels and from many different sources or triggers, i.e.

• Macro factors, e.g. the threat of global warming, the economy/recessions, the rise of religions, etc.

• Innovations, e.g. Facebook, smart phones, etc.

• People, groups, companies or governments, e.g. Greenpeace, Think tanks, etc.

Tempered against this is the desire for something new. The root of this is a psychological principle, called hedonic adaptation. It has been shown that the pleasure (or pain) we derive from something declines over time, i.e. we get used to nice things and no longer derive so much pleasure from them as we used to do. We therefore switch to new ways to satisfy our five basic happiness drivers.

It is our belief that it is this convergence of aspects that is at the heart of why we observe trends. Clearly, some factors turn out not to be very influential (e.g. Big Society), whilst others come to transform our well-being in so many ways (e.g. smart phones). As more of the population adopt a new behaviour, a new trend is seen to evolve.

In this report, we focus on just those trends that have reached critical mass in the UK and are affecting a growing number of consumers. Savvy companies, who can understand these trends and why they are occurring, stand to be able to gain by leveraging their effects for their brands.

Just like humans, we suggest that brands that can be positive and happy are likely to suffer fewer problems and also survive longer.

OUR TRENDS AND HAPPINESS

FRAMEWORK

HAPPINESS DRIVERS

CHANGINGEXTERNALFACTORS

HEDONICADAPTATION

TRENDS


The rest of this report looks at the current and evolving trends that brands in the UK are using to tap into the five basic happiness drivers. Many of the trends tap into more than one happiness driver, as is illustrated from the diagram below. In all, we have derived fifteen current trends.

We want to help our clients understand the changing needs of consumers and how this impacts on their consumption choices. We don’t use a network of ‘trend spotters’ to do this, because we are not looking for the next new thing. Instead, our trends have been identified by listening to consumers and understanding how their needs are changing over time. Our communities model means that we are in a unique position to get close to consumers and engage in longitudinal research.

We combine this listening activity with ongoing monitoring of the broader consumer environment – the macro trends, changing attitudes, and exciting brands, which are shaping consumer expectations – to provide our clients with the bigger picture.

Our 15 trends are not fixed. Over time, we will see entirely new trends emerge, whilst some of the current trends decline in importance, as the macro environment changes and hedonic adaptation comes into play.

Success

Free fromConstraints

SimplifyComplexity

Do the Right Thing

Give MeHope

MaximisingTime

Return tothe Senses

Here& Now

Get toKnow Me

TrueSelves

LocalInvestment

EnrichingLives

Makinga Mark

MeaningfulSocial

Connections

Happiness can beobtained from simply

being in tune and aware ofwhat is going on around us.

Heightened awarenessallows us to make betterchoices for our wellbeing.

Approaching life’smany challenges more

positively can alleviate manyof the psychological negatives

associated with stress andlead to a genuinely happier

life.

Karma

World

Feelings of happinessand life satisfaction havebeen strongly associated

with active participation insocial and community life.Giving and helping othersis linked with happiness.

Positive relationshipsare critical in promoting

happiness. It is also obtainedfrom having a breadth of

social connections.

Thrill ofthe Deal

Goal setting can not onlyhelp people achieve thingsbut also provides a sense of

purpose. Achievement can beany type of challenge where

you learn something new.

Exciting &Unexpected

Focus

Relationship

s

OUR 15 CURRENT

HAPPINESS TRENDS


In a world of endless choice, clutter and complexity, consumers are looking to save time and increase happiness by making fewer decisions. This is the paradox of choice.

Consumers today seek fewer choices and easier decisions to make. They value experts who have done the work and made the best decision for them. Simplification is key to overcoming choice paralysis, streamlining lives and ultimately increasing happiness. Priorities are shifting further in the direction of ‘less is more’.

An interesting example recently is the launch of the Burger and Lobster restaurant chain in London. They have no menus. When you ask the waitress what there is to eat, she simply replies with three choices: Burger, Fried Lobster and Lobster Roll. All cost £20. There are no starters and a very limited choice for desserts. The simplicity continues in the Mayfair restaurant, with no reservations either. Their success is measured by the queues that stretch out of the doors most nights.

There are many opportunities for brands to cut through the clutter and offer a carefully edited choice.

We are seeing a new consumer mind-set emerging from the continued recession. Austerity might be the new normal, but we’ve been living with it for five years now. People are tiring of all the doom and gloom. Any brand that can provide hope, happiness and fun is going to stand out.

A great example of this is O2’s ‘be more dog’ campaign. According to O2xii, the adverts aimed to ‘spread positivity, excitement and inquisitiveness [...] to rid the UK of cynicism’ by getting people to ‘embrace their inner dog’. As a measure of its success in aligning itself with our ‘Give Me Hope’ trend, within a few weeks of launch, it had topped Campaign magazine’s chart of the most virally shared ads.

There are many opportunities for brands that celebrate all that is joyous about life.

GIVE MEHOPE

SIMPLIFY COMPLEXITY


Happiness can be derived from immersing oneself in real experiences that allow us to tune into the world around us. Many now live in a world cluttered with technology, where engagement with others is mediated through screens. This is creating a backlash.

Offline, consumers desire a real sensory explosion, things to see, smell and touch, to experience something real, to reconnect with nature and the real world around them.

The restaurant chain Dans Le Noir has taken this trend to an extreme. Your whole eating experience takes place in complete darkness, where blind staff serve you an unknown, set meal of meat, fish, or vegetarian delicacies, whilst you sit at large tables with unknown guests you cannot see. According to the owners, ‘It is a unique experience that changes our view of the world by reversing the perspective’. It is billed not so much as a restaurant, but a ‘trip into your imagination to “reset” your senses and meet other people’.

There are, however, many other simpler opportunities that brands can create to offer consumers something special in the real world, enabling them to make use of their senses.

With new models of working, learning and living that have been enabled by technology, consumers are less tolerant than ever with complex rules that restrict their freedom.

Features, such as Pay as You Go, on demand, price comparison, switching suppliers, and open 24/7, bombard consumers all the time. The freedom they offer helps reduce the worry of commitment.

Consumers seek to reduce their worry by choosing more flexible options, rather than opting for contracts, which tie them in. They are no longer happy to sign up for life – or even 3 months. However, provided the service meets expectations, loyalty can still be engendered.

Mobile phone operators tapped into this trend early, with SIM only contracts. It is now spreading to other companies. A recent example is NowTV. In March 2013, Sky launched a facility whereby sports fans without a Sky box and/or contract could watch all of Sky’s sports channels for £9.99 a day. Those not able, or willing, to commit to a long term contract were then at liberty to watch specific sports events. Moreover, Sky enabled the service across a range of devices, from Xboxes, to desktops, to smart phones.

There are still many opportunities for brands to tap into this trend and offer consumers more freedom and flexibility.

In an always-on, technology enabled world, consumers expect things ever faster, or immediately, and seamlessly integrated into their lives. They seek super-convenience, on their terms. A good example of Maximising Time was the launch of Amazon Locker in the UK, in late 2012. Instead of having to wait in for deliveries, customers were offered the option to pick up their deliveries at a time convenient to them, from hundreds of locations around the UK.

There are many ways in which brands can help consumers save time, by minimising the boring bits and thus permitting them to maximise the good parts of their life.

Consumers are looking to make more time for the things that make them happy, whether that’s time spent with loved ones, learning a new skill, spending 10 minutes more in bed in the morning, or simply having fun. Brands that can work with this trend, and provide consumers more time to be happy, are going to be valued.

FREE FROM CONSTRAINTS

MAXIMISINGTIME

RETURN TO THE SENSES



In this ever faster, hyper-connected world, there is beginning to be a demand for digital downtime, slowing down, reconnecting with and celebrating everyday life, valuing the small things, relaxing and living in the moment.

The digital world has spawned a generation of hyperactives, who have a Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). Brands can help people by giving them permission to overcome this, and celebrating mindfulness and wellbeing. There is much happiness to be derived from this.

Twinings have encapsulated this trend perfectly with their ‘gets you back to you’ campaign. According to the company themselves, the beautiful animated adverts, played to mellow music ‘metaphorically explains the hectic lives that women today lead, and how taking just 10 minutes out each day, to reconnect with yourself, can have such an impact on the rest of your day’.

Brands can help people re-connect with, and enjoy, the real world, enhancing ‘the moment’, and in doing so, helping people recognise and value their lives even more.

The internet and mobile technology means that it’s all too easy to do research and find answers. Uncovering the new and unexpected, the novel, the sense of adventure, the unplanned discovery, the wow factor, and the raw and unpredictable experiences from life gives us pleasure. Awesome things can stand out in a world that’s increasingly predictable and bland.

A good example is Birchbox. This monthly subscription service sends samples of new and different beauty products to its customers, based on their profiles. The products are shipped in a beautiful box, which further adds to the sense of excitement and intrigue. The aim of the service is not only to introduce women to new products and ideas, but also to challenge them.

Why just sell products and services, when you could take customers on a journey of discovery?

HERE AND NOW

EXCITING AND UNEXPECTED


People derive a lot of happiness from their achievements. Those accomplishments need not be academic, but merely feeling good about beating the system in some way.

Consumers are willing to strip back what they can do for themselves, to monitor usage and to search around in order to maximise their value. Once they find a great deal, they want to share it with others, because in today’s world, being financially savvy and getting one up on big business is something to shout about.

A good example of a brand leveraging the Thrill Of The Deal is airbnb. This travel accommodation website has over 600,000 listings for private rooms and apartments that owners rent out directly to their clients, using the airbnb platform. The main benefit for users is the ability to stay in truly unique locations, often for a fraction of the price of normally commercially rented places. Users feel that the deal is so good that many spread its virtues virally. At the same time, they derive much pleasure from doing so and the overall deal.

There are many opportunities for other brands to offer great products and services, at a price that makes people want to snap it up and tell others.

Happiness can be derived from achievement. Consumers are looking to enhance their lifestyles, to learn new skills, develop their intellect, be healthier, and enrich their lives, ultimately creating better versions of themselves. This self-improvement is now linked to personal accountability. It’s about setting personal goals, being more self-aware, learning, reflecting, and ultimately changing behaviour to improve outcomes. Personal accountability is high – ‘help me help myself!’

Nike tapped into this trend in their ‘Make Yourself’ campaign, which has been running for a few years now. It aimed to challenge young, professional women to inspire them to get fit, by depicting the success of well-known female athletes. The brand has also created a number of other ways to motivate people to take more exercise, such as the Nike Running app that records distances and routes.

The Nike Fuelband not only records your exercise but visually displays how much exercise you take each day, on a simple coloured gauge, to challenge you to do more. All these not only help people enrich their lives, but also aid their general happiness.

There are opportunities for brands that can help people enrich their own lives, working with them to help them reach their goals.

ENRICHINGLIVES

THRILL OF THE DEAL


Having positive social relationships are critical for well-being. Brands need to develop relationships with their customers as much as they can. One way that this can be signified is by remembering as much as possible about them from previous encounters and using that information in a sensible way.

People like to be remembered. Technology has created great opportunities for brands to exploit this and personalise the service they offer. As well as expecting brands they engage with to be helpful and relevant, consumers also want to be recognised, communicated with and rewarded as individuals. They wish to build two-way relationships with brands that genuinely know and understand them, that can develop with them and predict their needs as change, and make them feel valued.

Netflix is a good example of an online brand that has been striving hard to personalise its offer. It started a few years ago, offering users recommendations of films and TV shows based on their viewing habits. However, it knew that often there was more than one viewer in the household and that they may have very different tastes. In August 2013, it changed to a system that enabled customers to have up to five profiles per account, which has allowed the personalisation of content to be much more specific.

Technology now affords brands the opportunity to build much deeper personal relationships and thereby show their understanding and value for their customers as individuals and friends.

We not only derive pleasure from achieving things but also from sharing that success with others.

Consumers today are crafting, baking and brewing with passion. It feels like we are more creative than ever, and moreover, that creativity as a skill is valued and celebrated more than ever. Technology helps us to be creative – there are apps to help us to release our inner artist, photographer, musician, or web developer. Technology also enables us to share the fruits of our labour. And we love to share.

French Connection’s ‘Make a Scene’ campaign tapped into this trend. Visitors to the site are invited to ‘make a scene’ by creating a film from a combination of pre-shot scenes, with actors wearing French Connection clothes. Participants can name the film, select a soundtrack and pick a special-effects theme from genres including noir and comedy. The site hosts a ‘leader board’, showing entries that have been shared the most via social media, with prizes available for the creators of the most popular content.

Creativity today is all about making a mark through self-expression and sharing – online and offline. There are opportunities for brands that celebrate creativity in all its forms.

MAKING A MARK

GET TO KNOW ME

24 Comley Reports An Introduction to Happiness 25


One of the benefits of deep relationships is that they permit honesty. Allowing yourself to be candid and open reduces stress and increases positive feelings. Brands are beginning to embrace this concept, as a way of getting closer to their customers.

Furthermore, consumers are becoming fed up with ‘Photoshop fakery’ and the need to carefully curate the perfect online image. They no longer want to feel bad for not being perfect, because they understand that perfection is unrealistic and unattainable. Consumers are valuing the raw, authentic and vulnerable, over the glossy and polished. In accepting that nobody is perfect, we are more able to show more of our true selves to others, to be honest and admit our failures, to be the real us – because we’re all only human.

A good example is a campaign run by The Co-operative following all the bad weather. They ran adverts showing deformed fruit and vegetables, reminding consumers that they tasted just as good as perfectly formed ones.

There are many opportunities for brands that are willing to be down to earth and honest, to get closer to their customers’ True Selves.

Much happiness and well-being can be derived from having meaning and purpose in life. My World is all about being part of something bigger and helping/giving.

Over the last few decades, a lot of these feelings were linked to the environment. Indeed, the contemporary outlook is a green mind-set, where recycling and ethical brands are now normal and part of our everyday. The modern consumer is becoming a post-green consumer. They demand that purchases work harder for them and think beyond mere environmentalism. Consumers are caring more about others. They demand not just natural products but short supply chains, no sweatshops and want to associate with brands that have a deeper purpose.

A good example of this trend is TOMS shoes. When American traveller Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina, he found they had no shoes to protect their feet and wanted to help. He subsequently created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.® The company has now expanded this scheme to cover glasses for third world countries too and is estimated to have revenues of over $300million.

TOMS is all about selling a lifestyle. There is much that can be learnt from it. There are opportunities for other brands, who are able to help consumers Do The Right Thing as a lifestyle choice.

For consumers, being connected in the digital world used to be a numbers game – collecting friends and followers to feel part of something much bigger. However, concerns about privacy, who to trust, and how to relate to each other online, coupled with a return to reliance on a small network of friends and family in times of economic difficulty, has seen a movement towards fewer, better engaged social relationships.

What does this mean for brands today? It’s about building engaged relationships, rather than buying fans or followers, creating highly engaged, brand communities that support people making friends with others, around a shared interest in a positive environment.

Lomo cameras are a great example of a brand that has successfully built an engaged community. Lomography describes itself as ‘the home of creative analogue photography’. The community of Lomo aficionados is very active, with tens of thousands of photos uploaded, messages written, comments made and likes given in any 24 hour period.

There are opportunities for brands that can connect individuals in meaningful and helpful ways.

MEANINGFUL SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

TRUE SELVES

DO THERIGHT THING


A key aspect of My World is one’s local community. People who are actively engaged with others locally have enhanced levels of happiness. There is much that brands can do to support this aspect.

A general disillusionment with big businesses is encouraging consumers to think locally. In line with the government’s Big Society idea, many people are mucking in to fundraise for local charities, helping out the PTA, getting involved in community events and supporting local independent businesses. The rewards for investing locally are tangible – better places to live, improved relationships, and a sense of feeling a connection to a place.

I hope you can now see why we think consumer happiness is actually a very good framework for describing human behaviour in the modern world. The five main drivers of Karma, Focus, Success, Relationships and World explain a lot of why people do what they do and the trends that exist in the UK today.

Moreover, there is much to be said for adopting a positive attitude in life. It directly affects our life expectancy and physical health. Some of that effect is due to the way others perceive happy, positive people and then react to them.

A good example of a company getting involved positively with this is the Kingfisher chain. Their involvement goes beyond companies that merely make local charitable donations. Instead, Kingfisher are directly helping to improve their local communities by working with schools, charities and community partners, to transfer skills and support local regeneration. Their skilled staff help directly on community projects and Kingfisher is even running free, local, DIY training courses.

There are opportunities for other brands that can be relevant at a local level and get involved with their customers’ local My World.

It is this aspect that brands have most to learn from and why they should aim to portray a positive image. Brands that additionally understand the human psyche, and can leverage the five core drivers that make people happy, are then in a very strong position to increase their sales and profits.

Finally, a reminder that the 15 trends we highlight behind the five drivers are a work-in-progress. We at Join the Dots have our finger on the pulse of consumers. We intend to continually update you on the latest ways in which you can keep your customers happy.

LOCALINVESTMENT

PETE’S CONCLUDINGTHOUGHTS



REFERENCES AND NOTES i Comley, P. (2013) Inflation Tax: The Plan To Deal With The Debts

ii Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177

iii Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper

iv See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology. Accessed 01/11/2013.

v See: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/aug/16/brands-guardian-mood-nation-happier. Accessed 01/11/2013.

vi Abel, E.L. and Kruger, M.L. (2010) Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Longevity, Psychological Science April 2010 vol. 21 no. 4 542-544v

vii Pryce-Jones, J. (2010), Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success,Wiley-Blackwell

viii Dolan, P. and Metcalfe, R. (2012) Measuring subjective wellbeing: recommendations on measures for use by national governments. Journal of Social Policy, 41 (2). pp. 409-427.

ix Data from: Baird, B.M., Lucas, R.E. and Donnellan, M.B. (2010) Life Satisfaction Across the Lifespan: Findings from Two Nationally Representative Panel Studies, Social Indicators Research. November 2010; 99(2): 183–203. Note the data plotted on our graph is a 3 period moving averages of the ‘All Data’ series in this report (which is based on the British Household Panel Study 2006).

x Seligman, M. (2011) ‘Flourish: A New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being – and How To Achieve Them’, Nicholas Brealey Publishing

xi See: http://dnwssx4l7gl7s.cloudfront.net/nefoundation/default/page/-/files/Five_Ways_to_Well-being_Evidence.pdf. Accessed 01/11/2013.

xii http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jul/04/o2-cat-ad-be-more-dog. Accessed 01/11/2013.

30 Comley Reports

32 Comley Reports

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