Household Design Consultancy research report

THE NEW INDULGENCE: As to-do lists stack up and stress levels rise, indulging in rituals and rewards becomes increasingly justifiable. How can we help customers escape their everyday routines?

Amy Elliott 14040848 Audience & Brand Experience DE1131 BA (Hons) Fashion Communication Northumbria University

Modern society provides a plethora of opportunities, distractions and issues. This yields hefty to-do lists and soaring stress levels which the pressures that many brands put on us only enhance. People are finding themselves with less time to relax, indulge and treat themselves; meaning that when they do it is overdue and comes with a long list of reasons to justify it taking time out of their busy schedules. This is where there is a gap in the market.

Brands can step in and help take away the pressures of modern life, rather than contributing to it. “Enemies to wellness such as lack of time and willpower that sabotage Millennials’ aspirational health goals are a great opportunity for brands to intervene and help them along” (Inkling, 2015).

The measure of success is being shifted from pounds into how relaxed or how much happier the customer feels after engaging with the brand.

This report aims to identify the problems customers face in both justifying and carrying out rituals of indulgence through primary research, whilst employing secondary research to seek out examples of brands that are ahead of the curve, providing an inspirational act to follow. By identifying current trends and innovations this report will offer an insight into the current market and offer up recommendations that could yield success in the future of providing holistic solutions to helping customers escape their everyday routines.

Methodology Research was carried out in a variety of ways; employing the use of both primary and secondary sources.

Initially, primary research was conducted via an online survey (see Appendix 1) which aimed to provide a solid base to work from. It questioned individuals on their patterns of indulgence, and their attitudes and feelings towards treating themselves. Only individuals who fit the demographic were sent the survey via email, which they completed under the knowledge that there was no pressure to comply due to their relationship with myself. The results from this survey informed the questions asked in a phone interview (see Appendix 2) with a working professional on her indulgence habits and how she justified these to herself.

Third, I conducted a focus group (see Appendix 3) with four young women aged 20-24, who occupy a variety of professional positions, on their indulgence habits, subsequent justification of these habits and their opinions on several examples of companies currently helping people take time out. Said examples were a product of my extensive secondary research, perusing trend sites like LSN Global and J. Walter Thompson Intelligence to look into current macro- and micro-trends which have led to the creation of the holistic experiences detailed later in the report.

Target Market The specific demographic that I have chosen to study are female millennials, working full-time in urban environments with no children. I have chosen women specifically as they account for a very large, and underestimated, portion of consumer spending. Recent findings state “women make 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from cars to healthcare, they are the primary shoppers in the household” whilst they “are earning, spending and influencing at a greater rate than ever before, and the average American woman is expected to earn more than the average American male by 2028” (Zentile-Miller, 2015). Millennials are the most switched-on of any generation, “making up a quarter of the UK population and predicted to hit the 17 million mark by 2019” (Inkling, 2015) meaning they are hugely important to the economy. ‘What you see is what you get’ is no longer an option for brands if they want to succeed in appealing to millennial consumer; they want to be completely immersed in the holistic experience of the brand.

The online generation, “as digital natives, know better than most how constant connection to technology can be all consuming and exhausting” (Townsend Williams, M. 2015) this had led to the evolution towards finding “relief in traditional ways like detoxing, meditating and retreating in nature” in order to escape the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives. This is where brands can step in, in a similar way to app developers who “have rushed to provide digital versions of these experiences to satisfy this growing demand”. Millennials, in full-time employment without any children to provide for, have higher proportions of disposable income in which to spend on experiences and their own wellbeing: this makes them a key demographic to study, and thus, appeal directly to.

Macro Trend: The Optimised Self ‘The Optimised Self ’ is the name coined by LSN Global for the macro trend that is seeing consumers go on “a quest. It is not a quest for perfection, but for optimisation – to be the optimal versions of ourselves, the most effective and the most efficient that we can be” (Buchanan, 2015). Consumers are prioritising personal fulfilment and wellbeing in order to balance out, and escape, their hectic and rapidly accelerating digital lifestyles. This is directly linked to The New Indulgence. Customers identify the problems that come with such busy, modern lifestyles, e.g. stress, and are looking for solutions to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing. For example, a member of my focus group stated that she often justified indulgences with “it’s for my health…stress is bad you need to relax” (see Appendix 3), demonstrating a skew towards recognising the health benefits of taking time out to relieve stress.

Companies such as Gatwick Airport are identifying stressors such as pre-flight nerves and the adverse effects that flying has on the body, and coming up with innovative solutions. Pre-flight yoga or ‘Floga’, directed by ‘Instagram-famous’ yoga guru Shona Vertue, is now on offer at Gatwick to help passengers de-stress and prepare their mind and body for flying. The short, low-intensity routine incorporates deep breathing exercises to help relax nerves, alongside stretches to combat muscle stiffness and to promote healthy circulation and digestion. The aim of course is to allow customers to effectively remove a common stressor associated with flying from the experience. The fact that the class is free, and open 24 hours a day is encouraging; however, consumers who don’t regularly do yoga may not be tempted by the experience which a member of the focus group highlighted by saying she wouldn’t be interested “because I don’t do it” (see Appendix 3). Plus there will always be the obstacle of whether they’ve packed suitable yoga clothing in their carry-on luggage (unlikely) as stated by focus group member E “you won’t have any gym clothes to do yoga in will you?”. It does however appear to be a productive, healthy and (possibly) appealing way to escape the menial task of sitting at the gate whilst waiting for a flight, which may serve as justification for passengers choosing to attend the class.

(The Telegraph, 2015)

A further example is the Stressless Lounge and Beauty Bar in Moscow, the self-proclaimed “pair of fuzzy slippers after a stressful high-heel day” (Laughlin, 2015) who offer treatments that can be “incorporated into packed schedules, and customers can fit in a meal and a beauty treatment during a 45-minute lunch break” (Reis-design. co.uk, 2015). Providing a succinct and immersive experience, the Russian beauty bar state that relaxation is their “core concept”. This is a great example of how a brand can create an experience to aid their customers in escaping and effectively reducing the stress of their daily routine in a manageable time frame. The focus group (see Appendix 3) reacted positively to this example, describing it as “amazing” and “so good if you’ve had a stressful day at work”. The manageable time slots seemed to appeal to them as “you can just go in your lunch break, because they give you food as well, chill out and then get straight back to it. It’s ideal”, as well as the prospect of increased productively post-treatment which also served as a means of justification.

The only drawback that was identified in terms of justification is the price of treatments, with the phrase “if I/ they (the customer) could afford it” cropping up multiple times. It appears that this would prove to be a hurdle in justifying visiting the beauty bar. Prices were hard to identify as the website could only be accessed from a Russian server, however it is probably safe to assume that a venue describing itself as “chic” wouldn’t be charging low prices.

(Reis Design, 2015) A further, more creative example would be the ‘Worry Will Vanish’ exhibition (2014) by Pipilotti Rist at the Hauser and Wirth gallery in London. Rist “transformed the gallery into a fully immersive, sensory environment.

Projected against two walls…(the exhibition) is a journey inside the human body, based on a three-dimensional animation” (Hauserwirth.com, 2015). Visitors are encouraged to remove their shoes, and lie down to shed some of social inhibitions from the outside world. This is inspired by the principles of Autogenic Training “which involves a repeated set of visualisations, practised in recommended postures (including lying down), which are intended to alleviate stress”. Just the title of the exhibition alone preps the viewer for relaxation and encourages them to be more receptive to new ideas. In addition, seamlessly alternating the projected images from closeups of the human body to dewy nature imagery serves the purpose of blurring the lines between the two, and calmly implies a symbiotic relationship between the human race and nature. When presented with this particular example, focus group members seemed reluctant to acknowledge it as an ‘indulgence’ (this is obviously subjective to their definition of the word and their own experience of it), expressing that they felt it was “more of an experience just to say that you’ve done” and “not a luxury” (see Appendix 3). However, the interviewee who read the background information provided on the galleries website expressed confidence that the combination of relaxation techniques and specific imagery “would probably really work” but there was emphasis given to the fact that if potential viewers were given the same information prior to the experience they would be more likely to visit simply because they could justify it in terms of satisfying their need to relax.

(Hauser and Wirth, 2014)

Recommendations By analysing the information collected from secondary research sources combined with the opinions expressed by primary sources, recommendations for appealing to the specific demographic can be generated. It is clear that female millennials, working full-time without any children feel the need to unwind at the end of the working day – with 100% of survey participants agreeing to this fact (see Appendix 1). The following are factors that play a role in the justification process that takes place before an indulgence ritual does/does not occur: »» Cost It is clear that the lower the price of the indulgence activity, the more likely the consumer is to participate, as relative cheapness serves as a means to justify rewarding ourselves. For example, 27.3% of survey participants stated that they would only usually spend £5-10 on indulging themselves. »» Time A combination of a fast-paced modern world and a full-time job doesn’t leave much time for personal relaxation, so time is of the essence. It appears that activities that take up under 2 hours are the most popular; with 54.5% of survey participants saying indulgence rituals usually take over an hour (but under 2). Focus group results also support this finding; with participants reacting very positively to the example of beauty treatments that they could fit into their lunch break, describing it as “ideal” (see Appendix 3). Another participant stated “I’m more likely to do it (indulge) if it takes less time” whilst the positive feelings created post-indulgence appeared to be a motivating factor towards indulging in “ a little reward to keep…going”. »» Access Ease of access is another important factor that contributes to the decision making process of justifying indulgence.

“I think it has to be something that you can access any time, any where, for as long as you want because everyone needs to chill out at different times” was a statement made by a focus group participant (see Appendix 3). Although simple, the comment is important and rings true for many. Survey (see Appendix 1), interview (see Appendix 2) and focus group participants alike often cited apps (like social media, music and meditation apps), alcohol, food, baths, films (online streaming/Netflix) and online shopping as ways in which they indulged themselves in order to unwind. Ease of access is a characteristic each of these methods share, whether they be on your phone, laptop or in the fridge. Many of them also provide instant gratification – they are quick routes to relaxation. »» Health The prospect of increased health and performance optimisation are heavily contributing factors when it comes to justifying an indulgence or break from stress. Health as a trend has blown up in the last few years; with John Lewis selling one Nutribullet smoothie maker every 30 seconds during 2014’s Black Friday sales (Williamson, 2015), Pinterest revealing avocados were 2015’s most pinned food in the UK, and Instagram boasting 9,623,666 posts currently tagged with #healthyfood (Instagram, 2015).

To conclude, the chosen demographic of female millennial consumers (working full-time jobs in urban environments with no children) show an unwavering desire to unwind and carry out indulgence rituals in order to escape the stress of their daily routines. Relative cost, length of time, ease of access and perceived healthiness of activities are all factors which are heavily involved in the justification process of the consumer deciding to indulge or not. A conclusion that was drawn from conversations with primary sources over examples of indulgence/ stress-reducing activities found through extensive secondary research from a variety of sources. Examples found were ones which fit the emerging macro trend ‘The Optimised Self ’ which sees consumers opt for activities which yield better performance and increased health levels, which naturally decrease the stress levels that accompany our modern lives, and simultaneously serve as an escape: they are the two-in-one solutions that the fast-paced digital age craves. __ 2,036 words

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Image references Hauser & Wirth, (2015). Pipilotti Rist Worry Will Vanish. [image] Available at: http://www.hauserwirth.com/ exhibitions/2302/pipilotti-rist-worry-will-vanish/view/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].

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The Telegraph, (2015). Gatwick Airport ‘Floga’ Session. [image] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ travel/travelnews/11962880/Is-floga-the-answer-for-nervous-fliers.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].