They say little pleasures in life give great joy.
Celebrities are giving expensive clothes, jewellery and swanky cars a miss, instead they prefer these — Exotic holidays, a relaxing day at the spa, skydiving lessons, watching a concert or even a cookery class with one’s favourite chef. The ‘experience shopper’ feels there is more value attached to experiences than material pleasures.
Based on a study by the San Francisco State University, experience shoppers felt a greater sense of satisfaction when they splurged on intangible things.
Socialite Harathi Reddy enjoys exotic getaways and tries to do something different on each trip, “With the two trips I made to Paris and Portugal recently, I wanted to get the real feel of the places. My husband and I visited coffee plantations in France, sampled local eateries, watched performances by crossover artists. It brings back such great memories.”
Experience shopping is hugely popular in several countries. Many people like to spend, albeit occasionally on experiences that are for keeps. Entrepreneur Neha Arora who helps organise such experiences says, “When I went to Singapore, I noticed how every mall had an experience shopping plan for tourists. After localising it, I noticed how the notion of spending has changed — The emphasis has shifted from flaunting one’s status to adding value to expenditure.”
The experiences range from cooking with a top chef in a restaurant of your choice, indulging in an adventure sport to salsa and jive classes and living like a celebrity for a day.
Actor Chetan says, “I am going to take Capoeira classes. It’s Brazilian street art which has a mix of dance and fighting. Riding on roller coasters and scuba-diving in the Andaman Islands are two other things on my bucket list which I plan on doing very soon.”
Taking a cue from the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, namma celebrities too want experiences that stay with them for life.
Dancer Arati Sunawala says, “My husband (Darius) and I spend all our money on airfare! We just made a trip to Philippines and it was such a wonderful experience. We went snorkelling, diving and took boat rides to several small islands. When we look at photographs of these trips, it makes every penny spent worthwhile.”
