The results of a recent article in the Journal of Marketing should not surprise.
The authors claim to observe a connection between generating “content” during an experience and the perceived enjoyment of that experience. The takeaway—given that this is in the Journal of Marketing—is that smart shrines (in their “content generative” possibilities—offer an opportunity for marketers to deepen consumer enjoyment of an experience.
I used to have a thing against taking photos. As in, I had a pseudo-philosophical stance against it. As in, the moment you pick up a camera, you, like, diminish your direct experience.
That was, like, stupid.
The documentary impulse, I now recognize, is almost something innate in us. It’s not that smartphones have brought this behavior out in us—it’s that they enable us to do this thing that has been served for centuries.
Having recently read an account of the Donner Party, I was shocked by how many of the people involved (both of the party and their rescuers) kept some form of diary or journal or log. Even in bleak starvation, a man kept up with his journal.
Obviously, enjoyment was not part of the picture when it came to the Donner Party, but the essence is the same—the instinct to record and to document.
So, sure. I suppose that the results of this study hold. Generating content (images, tweets, whatever) increases enjoyment of an activity or experience. But of course it does. Considering anything—really paying attention—will depend your experience. It’s easy to be asleep with your eyes open, right?
Taylor Coe 