World Happiness Report: How Brands Can Boost Wellbeing

Published 14 May 2021

Author
Elspeth Taylor
Listen

The recently published 2021 World Happiness Report captures consumer sentiment in one of the most mentally trying years in modern times. We highlight key findings from the survey and tangible actions for brands to take in pursuit of boosting global wellbeing.

World Happiness Report: How Brands Can Boost Wellbeing

World Happiness Report 2021
  • Happiness in Focus: The pressures and worries of the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted ‘life satisfaction’ – one of the metrics used in the World Happiness Report. For example, in the UK, overall life satisfaction (graded from worst to best: 0-10) fell from 7.16 in 2019 to 6.80 in 2020 – a decline of “statistical significance.”
    As we discuss in The Silent Pandemic, brands and institutions need to be mindful of and address Covid-19’s potential long-term impact on mental (not just physical) health.
  • Encouraging Positive Mindsets: The study found that positive psychological characteristics, such as gratitude and resilience, helped protect consumer mental wellbeing during the pandemic.
    In addition, negative language and sentiments on social media have the opposite effect – detrimentally impacting scrollers’ mental health. Brands, therefore, have the responsibility to cultivate a positive online presence for the benefit of fan wellbeing. See our profile on Hopepunk consumers – who choose optimism and kindness in the face of adversity – in Radical Positivity for inspiration.
  • All Together Now: Unsurprisingly, consumers with connection to friends, family and loved ones during the pandemic reported higher life satisfaction. This finding reinforces the importance of social interaction to mental wellbeing.
    When cultivating communities, voice communication is found to produce stronger social connection – explaining the rise and rise of social audio platforms such as Clubhouse. See Audio: The New Social Platform for more.
  • Giving Back Gives Back: Consumers looking to boost wellbeing should also consider prosocial and altruistic activities. The report found that both volunteering and charitable payments have beneficial impacts on happiness – a trend we explore in Aspirational Altruists.