Studies show people want more experiences, not stuff

6 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

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In this YouTube monologue, Dan Novaes outlines a global shift in consumer behavior away from the traditional metric of growth—buying more clothes, gadgets, and upgrades—toward prioritizing experiences. Recent consumer trend reports indicate that many people now prefer to spend on travel, live events, courses, and hobbies rather than accumulating possessions. This pivot is especially pronounced among younger, urban consumers who face limited living space and financial pressures. Concurrently, minimalism, second‑hand shopping, and repair culture are on the rise, with owning fewer but higher‑quality items becoming a new status symbol. Overall, value is moving from the size of closets and storage units to the richness of calendars, memories, and personal stories.

Chapters

For years, growth was measured in how much people bought more clothes, more gadgets, more upgrades. New global consumer trend reports show a quiet pivot. Many people now say they'd rather spend on experiences than on owning even more things. Minimalism, secondhand shopping and repair culture are rising, while categories like travel, live events, courses and hobbies are gaining share, especially among younger urban consumers, who often have less space and more financial pressure. Owning fewer but better items and channeling extra money into food, trips or time with trends is becoming a status signal on its own. The global trend is shifting from look how much I have to look how I live. Value is moving away from closets and storage units and into calendars, memories and stories.