The arrival of the experiential economy

With the changes in consumption patterns, the process of economic evolution has transformed from the agricultural economy, industrial economy, and service economy in the past to the "experience economy" The advent of the era, according to B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, co-founders of Strategic Horizons LLP consulting firm in Ohio, USA, in the United States The Harvard Business Review's bimonthly July-August 1998 issue "Welcome to the Experience Economy" pointed out: The era of Experience Economy has arrived, which distinguishes four stages of economic value evolution. For commodities, goods, services and experiences. The so-called experience economy means that enterprises focus on services and use goods as materials to create memorable experiences for consumers. The traditional economy mainly Pay attention to the product's powerful functions, beautiful appearance, price advantage, experience and ideological recognition, so as to capture the attention of consumers, change consumption behavior, and find new survival value and space for the product in terms of economic development and social type. Changes are closely related. With the rapid development of technology and information industry, people's needs and desires, and consumer consumption patterns have also been affected accordingly.

The evolution of economic development has changed from the agricultural economy in the past. The industrial economy and service economy are moving towards the current experience economy, and each stage of economic development presents different patterns in production behavior and consumption behavior:

Agricultural economy: In terms of production behavior, it is The production of raw materials is mainly based on the principle of self-sufficiency.

Industrial economy: The production behavior is based on the manufacturing of goods; consumption behavior emphasizes functionality and efficiency.

Service economy: The production behavior emphasizes division of labor and product functions; consumption behavior is service-oriented

Experience economy: The production behavior focuses on improving services, and uses commodities as props; consumption behavior. It pursues emotional and situational appeals, creates activities worth remembering for consumers, and focuses on interaction with products.

The following is an example to discuss the above from the aspects of clothing, food, housing, transportation, education, entertainment, etc. The evolution of the four economic development stages:

Economic development stages affect production and consumption behavior

As can be seen from the above table, with the arrival of the experience economy, production and consumption behavior have changed The following changes:

(1) Develop new products and new activities based on experience

(2) Emphasize communication with consumers and touch their inner emotions and emotions. Emotion.

(3) Attract consumers by creating experiences and increase the added value of products.

(4) Obtain consumer recognition by establishing brands, trademarks, slogans and overall image shaping.

Mr. Luo Jiade, a well-known information sociology professor in Taiwan, also pointed out the trend of consumption symbolization in his book "Internet Relationship Marketing". Consumption is not just about buying useful things, but becoming the “language” that consumers use to express themselves. The fabric cost of a piece of clothing is very low, but because of the novel design, creative advertising, and dynamic promotion, it is like giving it a "value" label (Barths) of youthfulness, liveliness, elegance, openness, and generosity, and it also adds a new dimension to it. These values ??look for "social" positioning such as being young, highly knowledgeable, international, anti-traditional, etc. “In an overly affluent society, when food, clothing and comfort are no longer a problem, every commodity has become ‘symbolic’. What people want to buy is not just the commodity itself, but the symbolic meaning attached to the commodity.

” As “experience” has become an economic commodity that can be sold, the whirlwind of “experiential consumption” or “symbolic consumption” has begun to sweep across the global industry. Following the “service economy”, the “experience economy” has begun to become popular.