We're Living in the Experience Economy
Look at your living room.
Chances are, you see a TV. Maybe a nice couch. A couple of gadgets sitting on a coffee table.
Now, think back to the moment you bought these items. You felt excited. You couldn't wait to unbox that new tech or sit on that brand-new sofa. But fast-forward six months... that excitement is completely gone.
The TV is just a piece of plastic on the wall. The gadgets have lost their novelty. The couch is just where you throw your laundry and watch movies.
Psychologists call this "hedonic adaptation."
It's a fancy term for a simple human truth... We get used to things very quickly.
No matter how shiny or expensive a new gadget is, the thrill wears off. The item becomes background noise. It decays. It gets outdated.
Yet for decades, businesses assumed consumers just wanted more stuff.
Well, that era is officially over. It has been a long time coming, but we're now in what we call the "experience economy."
Many studies have shown that people who spend money on experiences derive more and longer-lasting pleasure from those purchases than those who spend money on physical goods.
When you spend money on an experience – a weekend getaway, a concert, a dinner with friends, or learning a new skill – your brain processes it differently than a physical purchase.
That's because experiences become part of who we are.
As a recent article in the Economic Times explained...
One of the most influential studies on the topic was published in 2003 by psychologists Leaf Van Boven of the University of Colorado Boulder and Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
After surveying hundreds of people about purchases that had made them happy, the researchers found that people consistently reported greater satisfaction from experiences than from material goods.
Their conclusion was simple: experiences become part of who we are, while possessions remain things we own.
You are not your car. You are not your watch. But you are the sum of everything you have done, seen, and felt. Experiences get woven directly into your identity.
We currently live in a world saturated with goods. You can order almost anything on your phone and have it on your doorstep tomorrow. Because physical stuff has become so cheap and abundant, it has lost its emotional value.
But one thing has become scarce today... real human connection.
Recently, I took my family to a lake in Michigan for a short vacation. We rode on Jet Skis, went tubing, and had a ton of fun splashing around in the water.
I'll value those memories far more than I ever would if I had just spent that money on a new iPad.
This is anecdotal, of course. But the shift to the experience economy is real.
The chart below shows a recent surge in real U.S. personal consumption growth for experiences. Back in 2024, consumer spending on experiences closely tracked overall spending on general services. Both hovered between 1.5% and 3.2% in year-over-year growth.
But starting in mid-2025, spending on experiences took off. By the first quarter of 2026, real U.S. personal consumption growth for experiences hit 6%. Meanwhile, spending on broader services stayed flat at roughly 2.3%. Take a look...
For investors, this shift offers a clear road map to profits. Companies that facilitate unforgettable moments – such as travel operators, live-entertainment providers, and booking platforms – are riding a massive tailwind.
If you've ever been to a Disney (DIS) theme park and had a great experience, for example, maybe you should look into the stock.
Theme-park admission revenue for Disney grew from $8.6 billion in 2022 to $11.7 billion last year. Resorts and vacations sales have grown by 44% over that same period.
Or maybe you're not into Mickey Mouse and Captain America, but you love live music.
If that's the case, you should check out Live Nation Entertainment (LYV), which exclusively focuses on in-person events like concerts, music festivals, and comedy shows.
Sales for the company have grown 12.2% over the past 12 months.
The point is that the future of the economy is experiences. And you can make money by owning the companies that provide the entertainment you love.
Of course, you shouldn't blindly buy shares of every experience-focused company out there. You need to investigate before putting your hard-earned dollars to work. One way you can do that is with StockTracker...
Developed by Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig and his team, this system lets you type in 5,000-plus tickers for stocks and funds. It then tells you where each stock or fund is in its bullish or bearish cycle. That way, you can invest in an asset as it's rising – and avoid putting your money into an asset right as it's topping out.
To learn more about Doc's first-ever stock-picking system, click here.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Southwest Airlines (LUV) put Texas jet fuel on a boat to Los Angeles for the first time amid supply worries.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Jeff Havenstein
July 29, 2026