Grin and Buy It
Companies spend billions of dollars every year on surveys and focus groups in the quest to figure out what makes consumers tick. Now there's a new weapon in the arsenal: the emerging field of scientific research into what makes people happy. The conclusions are being applied to everything from deciding the right color for washing machines to putting a price on spray paint.
After decades spent focusing on the psyche's dark side, university scientists in the U.S. are churning out findings on what causes joyful emotions. The research is probing the pleasure quotient of buying a pet or shopping at a bookstore ― in some cases, literally putting a price on happiness.
One example of the impact of this research is the unlikely pairing of the work of a University of Pennsylvania psychologist and David's Bridal, the biggest bridal-store chain in the U.S. Studies by the psychologist, Martin Seligman, have found that resilient people are happier.
Perhaps no one needs resilience more than a salesperson on commission trying to sell wedding dresses to anxious brides-to-be. So David's, a 267-store chain owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., looked to the research to keep staffers cheery ― and improve sales. To bolster resilience when faced with an indecisive bride, salespeople were taught techniques such as focusing on things that bring them joy.
Sales improved in four stores where Dr. Seligman's methods were used in a pilot program. David's says it is considering online training that would bring the strategies to the rest of the company's 3,000 employees.
Glum Asians
The increased interest in happiness research comes at a time when a recently published study concluded that Asians are among the world's glummest people. Five Asian markets ― the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong ― were among the top 10 "unhappiest," according to a study published last month by global market research concern GfK NOP, which surveyed more than 30,000 people in 30 markets about satisfaction in areas such as relationships, work, income, spending habits and sleep. (Australians were found to be the "happiest" in the study, followed by respondents in the U.S.)
Asians often score relatively low on such global happiness surveys, social scientists say, partly because of differing cultural views of what defines happiness. Researchers such as Eunkook Suh, a professor of sociology at Yonsei University in Seoul, are studying how Asian perceptions of happiness differ from the West. Asians tend to view happiness as a sign of sloth and selfishness, he says. For example, one study he is working on appears to show that South Koreans view happiness as a "zero-plus gain … if I take happiness from the world, somebody else will be less happy," Mr. Suh says. Stiff competition for a limited number of places at prestigious universities and companies reinforces such attitudes, he adds.
One Asian nation, though, is blazing the way for government policy aimed at boosting the emotional well-being of its citizens: In 1998, the tiny kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayas discarded traditional measures of prosperity such as gross national product in favor of "gross national happiness."
THE SMILE SQUAD
See some of the leading happiness researchers and their findings."We've gotten interest from countries and academics around the world ― Brazil, Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, India, Thailand," says Karma Galay, a senior researcher at the Centre for Bhutan Studies in the capital city Thimpu. He adds that the Bhutanese model has drawn particular interest from Canada, where efforts are under way to develop a national "index of well-being." Rather than just measuring economic indicators, Statistics Canada hopes to actually quantify the happiness of its citizens to help shape social policy.
And, inspired by Bhutan, city officials in Beijing this year began creating a "happiness index" to judge the well-being of residents there on issues such as medical care, housing, employment, environment and safety. "High income doesn't necessarily mean happiness of the people," says Zhang Xueyuan, a spokesman for the Beijing Statistics Bureau. "We created the index in accordance with the background of 'putting people first.' "
Happiness-Industrial Complex
The global interest in happiness research is fueling a budding industry of consultancies set up to leverage the academic studies. The result is a sort of happiness-industrial complex, a new convergence of science and capitalism.
Part of this is an attempt to bring more science into traditional product-design and marketing research. Instead of just listening to what people say in focus groups, for example, the research ― through such techniques as monitoring facial expressions or even measuring brainwaves ― purports to be able to assess what people are actually feeling.
Not everyone is convinced of the approach. "It's overkill," says Dan Wiese, who heads Dan Wiese Marketing Research in Iowa. He will be running focus groups next month looking at a prototype of a device that neutralizes bathroom odors. It's unnecessary to analyze whether people smile when holding this new product, he says. "More than their happiness, I'm concerned with whether people say they see a perceived value. I don't expect anyone to be grinning over this thing."
One happiness researcher attracting attention is Stanford University's Brian Knutson. He is a professor of psychology and neuroscience who uses brain-image technology to measure satisfaction. Some of his research is designed to track how money affects the brain. In one study, he had subjects play a videogame that involved, at certain points, the anticipation of winning money, and, at other points, actually taking possession of that money. He measured the difference in oxygen flow in the brain between those two activities.
'Anticipation Is Totally Underestimated'
His conclusion: gearing up to do something can make you happier than actually doing it. "Anticipation is totally underestimated," says Prof. Knutson, whose work is funded in part by the U.S. National Institute on Aging and the MacArthur Foundation.
Some marketers say such results will also reinforce a trend already well established in advertising: selling the experience rather than the product. A running-shoe ad that focuses more on the pleasure of running, for example, can build a viewer's anticipation in a way that talking about the makeup of the shoe itself can't.
Spurred in part by concern that science was disproportionately focused on negative emotions, a cavalcade of new happiness research has emerged, especially in the past five years. Published papers have titles like "Using the Past to Enhance the Present: Boosting Happiness Through Positive Reminiscence" and "Cultural Constructions of Happiness: Theory and Empirical Evidence."
Advances in medical technology are giving researchers the tools to look more deeply into the living brain. The ability to track the biology behind your reaction to a product or image now has progressed to the point where a researcher may know how you feel even before you do.
Sensory Logic Inc., a company in Minnesota, studies videotape of people's facial reactions ― to products and commercials ― in increments as fleeting as 1/30th of a second. In measuring happiness or fulfillment, the company's staffers look for the difference between, say, a true smile (which includes a relaxation of the upper eyelid) and a social smile (which occurs only around the mouth). The company also measures the "micro-smile," which uses less than half the face and indicates "just a slight glimmering of buy-in," says Dan Hill, the company's president.
Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. used Sensory Logic to test consumers' emotional reactions to a yet-to-be-launched generation of its Duet washers and dryers, the company's premier line, which retail for about $2,328 a pair in the U.S. The goal: Design a product that "looks so cool and is such a joy to interact with, that you want your neighbors to come over and see it," says Charles Jones, Whirlpool's vice president of global consumer design. In other words, they wanted appliances that would actually make people happy.
Sensory Logic showed subjects various cutting-edge designs of the Duet products. In some cases, subjects expressed concerns. "They'd say, 'I don't know if I'm comfortable with this,' " says Mr. Jones. "But their facial expressions were saying, 'This is pretty cool!' " They were happier than they were letting on, he contends, which Whirlpool took as a sign that the innovations were eliciting deeper emotional reactions.
The research led Whirlpool to change certain design options on the Duet products, including geometric patterns and certain color combinations. "It saved us from going down a number of blind alleys," says Mr. Jones.
Facial Testing
U.S. paint concern Sherwin-Williams Co. used Sensory Logic to help assess a new spray paint in development. People were asked to try the paint and then talk about their experiences. Some said they liked the new spray paint, "but their facial expressions said they had no interest whatsoever," says Mark Ksiezyk, senior product manager for Krylon, a division of Sherwin-Williams. On the other hand, one subject said he was very happy when using the product, and asked, "Where has this been all my life?" His "true smile," using muscles around the eyes, gave indications that he meant it.
"The results you get through facial testing are much more accurate than focus groups," Mr. Ksiezyk says. "In focus groups, people say what they think you want to hear, or there's a leader and everyone nods and agrees."
Some companies are going as far as naming their products for the emotion they hope to evoke. McDonald's, for instance, has extended its longstanding kids "Happy Meal" concept to adults. And in the cosmetics industry, Clinique's "Happy" line fragrance ― which promises, among other scents, that of the Hawaiian Wedding Flower and Chinese Golden Magnolia ― has blossomed into its biggest seller in Hong Kong, having been sold there since 1998.
As businesses try to bait more customers with happiness, research is now being done to put a price on happiness. David Blanchflower, a Dartmouth College economics professor, is a leader in this. He analyzed survey data covering tens of thousands of people in 35 nations, and cross-referenced the results with various economic data such as workers' wages and people's standards of living. He then sought to put a dollar figure on the value of a healthy, stable relationship.
One study he co-authored found that if a person is single or in a miserable marriage, he or she would need to earn $100,000 more each year to be as happy as a happily married person. His research also showed that if a person has sex just once a month, that person would need to earn $50,000 more a year to be as happy as someone having sex once a week with a monogamous partner.
A potential use of this is calculating damages in divorce proceedings. Plaintiffs could make the case that they should be compensated for "a loss of happiness" due to, say, a straying spouse. Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, have talked to Dr. Blanchflower about using such data in marketing. His continued research, he says, could be used to market such things as erectile dysfunction drugs or drugs that combat depression.
幸福消费
为了了解消费者的喜好，企业每年要花费数十亿美元搞调查、组织专题讨论。现在他们有了新武器：对什么能给人带来快乐感进行科学研究的领域正崭露头角。他们得出的结论可以应用于从确定洗衣机外观颜色到决定喷漆价格等诸多方面。
数十年来有关快乐的研究大多集中在人们心理的阴暗面，如今，美国大学的科学家们对什么能让人产生好心情有了新发现。这些研究探究的是买宠物或在书店买书的幸福系数──在某些情况下，这相当于为快乐定价。
能说明这种研究的影响力的一个例证是：宾夕法尼亚大学的心理学家和美国最大的新娘用品连锁店David's Bridal联合进行的不同寻常的研究。心理学家马丁?塞利格曼(Martin Seligman)研究发现，开朗的人更加快乐。
也许没有谁比想向焦虑的准新娘推销礼服的销售员更需要开朗的心情了。因此Federated Department Stores Inc.旗下的267家David's Bridal连锁店关注那些能令员工开心快乐──并因此提高销量的研究。为在面对优柔寡断的准新娘时有高涨的情绪，销售人员学会了一些小技巧，比如注意那些能让新娘们高兴的事。
在试验活动中，4家采用塞利格曼的方法的商店提高了销售业绩。David's Bridal表示，正在考虑对公司其他3千名雇员进行网上培训。
幸福研究之所以得到人们的普遍关注与最近的一份研究报告有很大关系。该报告认为亚洲人是世界上最郁闷的群体之一。全球市场调查公司GfK NOP上月发表的研究报告显示，菲律宾、日本、韩国、台湾和香港5个亚洲市场位列最“不快乐”的前十名。该报告调查了30个市场的3万多人对人际关系、工作、收入、消费习惯和睡眠等方面的满意程度（研究发现，澳大利亚人是 “最快乐的”，美国人其次。）
社会学家表示，亚洲人在此类全球快乐调查中得分通常偏低，部分原因是他们对快乐的定义有不同看法。首尔延世大学(Yonsei University)社会学教授Eunkook Suh等研究人员正在分析亚洲人和西方人对幸福的看法有怎样的不同。他说，亚洲人一般认为幸福是懒惰和自私的表现。比如，他进行的一项研究似乎表明，韩国人认为幸福是“此消彼长的零和关系……如果我从世界得到了幸福，那么别人的幸福就要减少了，”Eunkook Suh还补充说，人们为进入知名大学或公司所遭遇的激烈竞争也加深了这种看法。
不过有一个亚洲国家正在为制定有助于提高国民幸福感的政策开辟新路：1998年，地处喜马拉雅山脉的小国不丹放弃了国内生产总值等衡量国家繁荣程度的传统标准，而采用了“国民幸福总值”指标。
不丹研究中心(Centre for Bhutan Studies)高级研究员卡马?加利(Karma Galay)说，“包括巴西、欧洲、北美、日本、澳大利亚、印度和泰国等世界许多国家及研究机构都对我们的研究表示了兴趣。”他补充说，不丹模式尤其吸引了加拿大的注意，如今加拿大也在制定全国“幸福指数”。加拿大统计部门希望不只是衡量经济指标，还要量化国民的幸福感以帮助制定社会政策。受不丹的启发，北京市政府官员今年开始编制“幸福指数”以评定居民对医疗、住房、工作、环境和安全的幸福感。北京市统计局(Beijing Statistics Bureau)发言人张学远（音）表示，高收入并不一定代表幸福，我们创建这个指数符合“以人为本”的大背景。
全球各地对幸福研究的重视也催生了一种新兴的对学术研究起到补充的咨询行业。其结果是产生了一种幸福产业复合体，它是一种科学和商业融合的新产物。
其表现之一就是传统的产品设计和市场调查出现了更多的科学元素。研究人员不仅是听专题小组的人怎么说，据说还通过监控面部表情甚至是测量脑波等技术来评估人们的实际感觉。
不是所有人都赞同这种做法。Dan Wiese Marketing Research的负责人丹?威斯(Dan Wiese)说，“这是矫枉过正。”他将在下月召开一个以卫生间除异味装置为样本的专题讨论会。他说，没必要分析人们在使用这种新产品时是否笑了。“相比人们的幸福感，我更关心的是人们是否会说他们感觉到它的价值了。我想谁也不会对著这个玩意儿微笑的。”
斯坦福大学(Stanford University)心理学兼神经学教授布莱恩?科纳森(Brian Knutson)的报告反响强烈。他的研究主题是金钱对人类大脑活动的影响。让研究对象玩视频游戏，在某种得分水平，玩家可以预测到即将赢到钱，而在其他得分，他们可以收获所赢到的钱。他对两种状态下玩家大脑内部的氧气流进行了观测。
结果显示：当你争取做一些令你高兴的事情时，你往往比实际做到时更兴奋。“充满期待的感觉被完全低估了，”科纳森说。他的研究受到了美国国家老龄化研究所(U.S. National Institute on Aging)和麦克阿瑟基金(MacArthur Foundation)的赞助。
部分市场人士表示，这种结论将使得广告行业中一种逐渐成型的趋势愈演愈烈：竞相展示产品可能带来的体验，而不再拘泥于产品本身的特性。举例来说，跑鞋的广告可能将重点放在奔跑的快乐上，这将比单纯宣传跑鞋结构更好。
在人们对于科学研究总是钉住负面情感的抱怨中，近几年，特别是近5年来，有关快乐的研究陆续浮出水面，Using the Past to Enhance the Present: Boosting Happiness Through Positive Reminiscence和Cultural Constructions of Happiness: Theory and Empirical Evidence.等报告相继出版。
医学技术的进步也为研究人员考察大脑活动打开了方便之门。科学研究中对于人类情绪反应的跟踪能力已经发展到足以让研究人员在你作出反应之前就得以察觉的程度。
明尼苏达州Sensory Logic Inc.对于人们见到产品和商品时面部表情的捕捉可以达到每1/30秒一次。在衡量人们的快乐感或满足感的时候，他们可以区分出“由衷的笑”（上眼皮也很放松）和“勉强的笑”（只停留在嘴角附近）。他们还定义了“微笑”，只有半个脸部有动作，“表现出一点点购买愿望，”公司总裁丹?希尔(Dan Hill)表示。
家用电器制造商惠而浦(Whirlpool Corp.)聘请Sensory Logic测试顾客对其即将推出的新一代Duet洗衣-烘干组合设备的反应。该系列为公司主打产品，市场零售价约为每组2,328美元。公司的宗旨是：要让产品“看上去很酷，让你一见倾心，并且有一种向邻居炫耀的冲动，”惠而浦全球消费产品设计部副总裁查尔斯?琼斯(Charles Jones)表示。换句话说，他们要让产品带给人们快乐感。
Sensory Logic向测试对象展示了Duet产品的各种前卫设计。有时候，接受测试的人会表现出一种迟疑的态度。“他们说，“我不知道是不是很满意，””琼斯说。“但他们的面部表情却在说，“这真是太酷了！”” 他说，他们只不过在掩饰自己的高兴情绪，惠而浦认为这恰恰说明他们的创新引起了消费者的注意。
测试后，惠而浦改变了一些Duet的设计，包括改变几何图案和颜色搭配等。“这样我们就不会白白浪费时间，走很多死胡同了，”琼斯说。
美国喷气公司Sherwin-Williams Co.聘请Sensory Logic来帮助其评估一种正在开发的新漆。他们请一些人试用这种漆，然后谈谈他们的感受。有的人说他们很喜欢，“而实际上他们的面部表情告诉我，他们一点兴趣都没有，”Sherwin-Williams旗下Krylon部门的高级产品经理马克?克西齐克(Mark Ksiezyk)说。与此同时，另一个人在表示很高兴能使用这种漆，“我怎么就没有遇到这么好的漆？”的时候，他的“真笑”（眼部周围的肌肉也活跃起来）告诉我，他说的是真心话。
“通过面部表情测试，你得到的结果会远比集体调查更准确，”克西齐克说，“在集体调查中，人们会阿谀奉承，说一些你爱听的话，或者如果有领导在，其他人就会随声附和。”
某些公司已经开始用他们希望带来的这种情感来命名他们的产品。例如麦当劳(McDonald's)将长期以来提供给孩子们的开心乐园餐(happy meal)的理念推广到大人中间。在化妆品行业，倩碧(Clinique)的“Happy”香水－－号称融合了夏威夷婚礼花和中国金玉兰等多种香味－－自1998年在香港上市以来一炮走红，目前已成为香港最畅销的香水之一。
随著越来越多的企业用快乐感来吸引他们的客户，一些研究机构开始给快乐定价。达特茅斯学院(Dartmouth College)经济学教授大卫?布兰奇弗洛尔(David Blanchflower)成为这方面的先行者。他对来自35个国家成千上万的人展开调查，对数据进行分析，将结果与工人工资、人们的生活水平等诸多经济数据联系起来。然后，他开始给健康和稳定的人际关系定价。
他与另一位学者联合撰写的一份报告显示，如果一个人单身，或者婚姻不幸福，他/她每年就要多赚上10万美元才能与一个快乐的已婚人获得同样的快乐感。他的调查还显示，如果一个人每个月发生一次性生活，那么就要比每星期有一次性生活的人多赚上5万美元，才能有同样的快乐感。
或许他的研究至少可以用来在离婚诉讼案中计算一下离婚的危害。原告可以索要因失去配偶而“损失快乐感”的相应补偿。与此同时，医药公司也与布兰奇弗洛尔找到了共同语言，他们正在讨论如何将这些数据用于市场推广。他说，他的后续研究可能被用于治疗性功能障碍和抗抑郁药品的推广中。
