Still struggling for Christmas gift ideas? A new app could help give you some inspiration.
Metro Vancouver officials have launched a “Merry Memory Maker” app that provides suggestions for a variety of gifts that are based on experiences rather than material items.
The goal is to minimize the amount of garbage that’s generated this time of year and to encourage people to choose something more meaningful for loved ones.
Suggested gifts include attending events like concerts or sporting events. It also suggests giving someone your time rather than money. The app allows you to print customized gift cards in which you promise to spend time with someone or help them with a task, such as mowing their lawn or walking their dog.
Metro Vancouver chair Greg Moore said the app aims to give consumers “examples of what they can do at Christmas to create some memories around Christmas and not just buying garbage that’s going to be thrown away in a couple of weeks.”
In addition to decreasing waste, the app could help boost the happiness of those who give and receive during the holiday season.
A growing body of research suggests people are better off spending money on experiences rather than possessions.
A 2014 study in Psychological Science co-authored by Cornell professor Thomas Gilovich found “experiential purchases (money spent on doing) tend to provide more enduring happiness than material purchases (money spent on having).”
The study said people tend to looked forward to experiences, arguing that they “derive more happiness from the anticipation of experiential purchases and that waiting for an experience tends to be more pleasurable and exciting than waiting to receive a material good.”
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