New research from McCann Worldgroup underlines a universal desire to escape from the age of overwhelm.
In an age of social and digital overwhelm, the desire to escape is an almost universal one. So much so that the ‘Escape Economy’ is valued at $9.7 trillion currently, and predicted to increase to $13.9 trillion by 2028. Within the Escape Economy, the global travel and tourism market is worth $316 billion.
Within such a huge market, the opportunities for brands are both vast and complex. With this opportunity in mind McCann Worldgroup’s brand intelligence unit, MW Truth Central, conducted a mixed-method research study into escapism, collecting data from across the globe.
Entitled ‘The Truth About Escapism’, the research found that 91% of people feel the need to escape occasionally. This desire for escapism doesn’t simply equate to a dream getaway, a simple afternoon sweet treat is equally an act of escapism.
The research found that globally, consumers’ number one reason for needing escapism was the state of the world. Secondly came a desire to escape their own mind, and thirdly a desire to escape their work.
There were also geographical differences in the reasons for wanting to escape. Consumers in China most wanted to escape from their parents/older relatives. While in France there was a strong desire to escape from the news. In Germany, there was a desire to escape from where the world is going.
Regardless of the reason why, most people agreed that everyone needs to escape occasionally. While most brands can offer some kind of escapism to consumers, the market for travel and tourism is expansive. In fact, the research found that 82% of people believe that travelling is the best form of escape. So, there are even more opportunities for brands in this sector to embrace escapism, beyond the expected.
At MW Truth Central’s ‘The Truth About Escapism’ event, Emily Mansfield, Regional Director Europe at the Economist Intelligence, discussed the year ahead for travel and tourism in the UK and Europe. She shared that the global economy is forecast to expand by 2.7% in 2025, with Trump’s presidency, easing conflicts, and India’s fast-growing economy, contributing factors.
Mansfield explained that consumer spending has stayed much the same for household goods, apparel, hotels and restaurants over the past four years. However, consumer spending has grown in the food and drink and leisure and education sectors. With the cost of living high, people are putting what money they do have into escapist spending.
She also explained a rise in ‘revenge tourism’, a trend where consumers are making up for the travel that they missed out on because of pandemic restrictions. Subsequently, tourism travel rates are heading back to where they were pre-pandemic.
Jess Francis, Research Director at McCann Worldgroup TruthCentral, presented research from ‘The Truth About Escapism’, with a focus on travel and tourism in Europe and the UK. She explored why people want to escape and how they do so. With a focus on the research’s key finding that escapism itself is moving from a ‘means to a mode’.
Francis shared that escape mode is about ‘airport rules’, where anything goes. In this mode, people are willing to spend more money, with Gen Z being the most likely to be willing to go into debt for an escape.
The research also identified a spectrum of escapes, based on scale and emotional impact. At one end is micro relief and at the other, macro renewal. Micro relief refers to those small moments in the every day where consumers might find escape; like scrolling on TikTok. Macro renewal is a transformative experience that contributes to personal growth, like taking a year off of work to go to culinary school, as one study participant in the US did.
Of these various escapes, there is a growing market for slow travel. Over half (55%) of consumers said that if it was an option, they would rather travel by train than plane. At the same time, there is a rise in AI influencing travel. This shift includes chatbots being used to plan travel itineraries, to an AI-run hotel opening in Las Vegas. And while ‘revenge tourism’ is popular, the cost of living crisis continues, so people are finding cheaper ways to escape, like visiting more accessible ‘destination dupes’.
Jess Francis, Research Director at McCann Worldgroup TruthCentral lifts the lid on what brands should know about the new era of escapism.
A: Ultimately, the thesis of the research was that escapes have evolved. We were conscious that when you think about escapism, you might naturally think of travel. But looking at the past few years and what people are up to, escapism means so much more. That was the key finding: the idea of escape mode. People can be quite intentional with escaping, but also quite unconscious, like ‘I'm sitting at my desk and I want to get up and go get a chocolate cookie’. The research was about getting brands to understand that this desire to escape is an enduring human behaviour, which has evolved from ‘I'll have a summer holiday escape’ to mini escapes throughout the day, as well as bigger ones.
A: Yes, definitely. We have a lot of data that young people are aware of the impact of phones on attention span. They want to spend less time on their phones, but because they don't have access to more affordable and easy escapes, their phones become the default option, and therefore digital overwhelm just becomes this vicious cycle. Some people online try to romanticise their day - like that ‘glimmers’ trend on TikTok of finding the ‘glimmers’ in your day. That is a form of escapism. The mindset of “I can't afford a mortgage, so I'm gonna buy a chocolate croissant or something”. It's escapism with a little bit of cynicism towards the current state of the economy.
There is a big desire to move away from screens, and we constantly see a rise in this data. Our research found one in three people wish smartphones were never invented. In one of our larger studies, we found that 79% of people are trying to develop more offline hobbies. It speaks to a truth about youth; the number one thing Gen Z wants to escape from is their own minds. Are people finding it harder to sit in silence with their own thoughts? Yes. The easiest thing for a mini, mental escape, might be to go for a walk or meditate, but phones replace all that. Going on TikTok is easier than going to the movies.
A: While it is a universal desire, how people escape across generations is likely different. For instance, digital usage is a bit higher amongst young people than older people. The trade off for escape also means more to young people today, and that might be because of life circumstances. We saw that young people were willing to do a lot more for escapes; to spend more or even go into debt for vacation.
This idea of worrying less about money is a new mentality that maybe didn't exist in previous generations when they were at that stage, who instead thought about retirement and life planning. The notion of waiting to live the good life in retirement and just working until then, is where Gen Z and Millennials also differ from older generations. There is a shift to wanting a good life now. They don't want to be working heads down, 24/7, for the next few decades, to live a great life in retirement. They would rather just be doing that now. That is the consequence of geopolitical factors and instability.
A: What they're doing right, right now, is investment in travel and expanded experiences. Travel centered around sports, tournaments and games. Brands are paying attention to the White Lotus effect of entertainment.
Travel and tourism is still very centered on the destination in most senses, but they could be thinking a little more about travelling as part of the escape. Luxury travel is focused a little more on the journey, with airline innovations like first class suites and showering on the plane. But what you don't see is talk about making economy flying easier, or train travel less painful.
There’s also a level of personalisation that could be incorporated into the travel experience. For instance, we’ve seen airlines partnering with Disney+ or Paramount+ for in-flight entertainment. This could be taken even further with more seamless and personalised streaming. One of the key learnings is: when it comes to travel and tourism, the escape is the journey itself.
A: The power of anticipation exists because it's in the mind of the person, but brands can do a little bit better to understand what it is that people are hoping to get out of that experience. Looking beyond logistics like good food, easy baggage, priority boarding, and towards making moments that create emotional connection.
I don't think we're ever going to close the gap, because expectations will always exceed reality, but it should be a thing that brands focus on. Are you going to deliver on what the consumer believes the promise of this trip to be? Travel is so aspirational and brands could learn more about what it is consumers want to experience. Brands can also lean into personalisation to fuel planning excitement and facilitate someone’s desired escape. For instance, if New Zealand is a bucket list country for you, then a brand could tailor the marketing you receive towards that, or its loyalty program to help you get there.
A: It's very easy for brands to offer micro reliefs; a drink at the end of the day, a little snack, but they are expanding beyond that, from micro relief to macro renewal, when they facilitate transformative experiences for individuals. One example of this is when Peroni Nastro Azzurro hosted an F1 experience for F1 fans to understand how it feels to be a driver. The brand experience went from a drink at the end of the day to a micro renewal, where consumers got the chance to experience a layered escape. We realised that brands might more comfortably fit in one area of escape than another, but they can also mix and match. For instance, healthcare brands have the larger goal of getting people to live healthier lives, more of a macro renewal, but in order to do that on a bigger scale it might be beneficial to offer them micro releases in consumers’ everyday lives.
A: The industry is a little hard on themselves. People assume that everyone has the ability to skip ads and nobody wants to watch them. But we have other data that shows there are ads people genuinely enjoy. When done right, they can create that emotional affinity with a brand.
One example comes from Calm, the mindfulness app. During the U.S. election, it bought media to provide 30 seconds of silence in between CNN election coverage, providing a very intentional micro-relief from 24/7 election reporting. An example from the larger study is Taco Bell. The fast-food restaurant created an early retirement community as an experiential pop-up, because the brand’s slogan is ‘Live Más’, which means ‘live more’. The activation was framed as, “Shouldn't we be encouraging ourselves to live the life of retirement always, instead of creating mere moments of rest and relaxation?”.
The way brands extend beyond where they might be in the category is through messaging and activation, because that's how you build a connection with the audience and then an affinity, and actually provide a bit more escapism beyond your product.
A: Escapism in moderation and in balance. Yes, everyone wants to escape, but the research shows people do believe they should be engaged with and active in the world today. People want interesting experiences and to feel immersed, but how much brands encourage escape, and if it is too much, will be a big question. Brands should understand moderation and not push escapism too hard - especially when it comes to Gen Z, who are more willing to go into debt for a holiday. It’s about balance and thinking about consequences for consumers.
One of the biggest learnings, especially after speaking to psychologists and social scientists, was that escaping isn’t inherently good or bad. Social media is not good or bad, it's the intent of the person that matters and that creates the outcome. So brands really need to understand what they are encouraging people to do with their product or service. Is it inspiration? Is it renewal? Or, are you encouraging people to turn off and disassociate?
We’re not advocating for consumers to just escape the world, there should be moderation. As one of our experts told us, approach it how you would a chocolate chip cookie. Enjoy it, but maybe don’t eat the whole bag at once.
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