THE ECONOMICS OF EXPERIENCES

The vision of the Experience Economy (1999) by Joseph Pine, and James Gilmore is that we will move increasingly from a commodity economy to an experience economy. This means that once people meet their basic needs and settle the question of survival so that it is no longer relevant or at least the most important thing on their minds, then what people will then at that point in their lives is a meaningful experience.

It doesn’t have to be a great experience, or a completely unique experience, but it does have to have meaning. It has to make sense and be significant. As product and services become less and less different in their quantity and quality, the differentiating factor in the marketplace will be the experience that people have with the products and services. Is that true for you? That’s certainly been my experience. People will want personal attention, respect, uniqueness, etc. They will want to have an experience that they can write home about. And because of this, that’s what they will pay for. And yes, this means customer service, but it is so much more than just that.