Consumption in 10 years: telling stories and feeling experiences

Let’s look around for a while. What do you see? Most probably a desk, a chair, some dusty statuette somewhere further away on a closet, maybe a couple of books you haven’t finished reading, and a lot of other stuff. We live in the world full of stuff.

This is a century of consumption, and we own a lot of things we don’t really need. Of course, there is nothing wrong with unnecessary items. Only that in most cases these items do not mean anything. Often we are not even sure how some things got into our homes.

Now let’s try and imagine a society where people are more conscious about consumption. A society where people think about every little thing they purchase. Let’s call this the society of the future. We don’t have to look very far into the future – most of us already know at least somebody who consumes consciously and tries to live sustainably. Some of us are that somebody. Maybe such kind of society will start dominating as soon as in 10 years?

Contemporary researchers or strategists can already see that people are changing. They care more and more about how different stuff makes them feel. Content strategist and creator M. Wright says that the world is no longer about accumulating stuff, it is about accumulating experiences. J. Cayla, a fellow researcher and a professor of marketing, adds that nowadays people are increasingly looking for distinctive experiences. Owning stuff is less important than having experiences. Also, people nowadays are ready to pay for experiences. We can assume that we are slowly approaching a society in which people care about feelings and experiences stuff and service can provide.

Welcome to 2026! The future we have dreamed about. This is the age when people turn to themselves and to others, cherish genuine connections and don’t care about materialism so much. They are not just users anymore. They are conscious users and conscious human beings.

Now let’s look around one more time and try to get used to the world in 10 years. How many meaningful things can you see? Things that tell a story, or help you build your personal story. What can you tell from looking at the things you own? Perhaps it’s time we created for ourselves this future that we wish to have. Let’s surround ourselves with things that we can truly treasure because they are made with responsibility and sustainability in mind, because they bear ideas and tell stories, and because they allow us to feel and to experience.