Cafe Venetia is a local coffee shop in Palo Alto. It serves Italian-style coffee including cafe lattes and espresso.
What makes this cafe special is its computer-free rule. On the patio wall, there is a sign that says “Computer Free Zone.” Each outdoor table has a small plate that reads “Computer-Free Table.”
The cafe encourages people to be present: read a book, have a conversation, or watch people pass by. The owner probably believes coffee should be enjoyed without the distraction of meetings or emails.
It is interesting that big tech companies like OpenAI and Google pull us deeper into virtual worlds, while a café in their own hometown encourages us to stay present.
Without these computer-free rules, we might easily get pulled into digital distractions through classic platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, or newer AI agents like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Today, we need rules to create distance from the virtual world and enjoy something “unique, meaningful, and authentic.”
This article addresses a simple theoretical question of high substantive relevance: What makes a consumption experience special in a consumer’s mind? To answer this question, the authors report an extensive multi-method investigation involving a grounded theory analysis of numerous consumer narratives and in-depth interviews, a field survey, a scale development study, a natural language processing analysis of more than 3 million Yelp reviews, a preregistered multi-factor causal experiment (and its preregistered replication), a blind comparison of hundreds of matched visual Instagram posts by third-party observers, and several small application studies. The findings converge in identifying three major psychological pillars of what makes consumption experiences feel special to consumers, each pillar involving different facets: (a) uniqueness, which arises from the rarity, novelty, irreproducibility, personalization, exclusivity, ephemerality, and surpassing of expectations of the experience; (b) meaningfulness, which pertains to the personal significance of the experience in terms of symbolism, relationships, self-affirmation, and self-transformation; and (c) authenticity, which relates to the perceived genuineness and realness of the experience in terms of its psychological proximity to some original source, iconicity, human sincerity, and connection to nature. As illustrated in the General Discussion, the findings have important substantive implications for the engineering of hedonic consumption experiences.
Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs, that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced self-awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress.
At Santana Row in San Jose, the Blue Bottle Coffee store captures attention with its European-inspired design. A shaded patio under a huge tree, cozy seating, and a fountain create the ambiance of a European plaza.
What struck me, however, was my assumption that Blue Bottle was a Japanese brand due to its minimalist design and precise brewing methods. To me, this coffee brand felt synonymous with Balmuda, a Japanese Electronics brand that prioritizes simplicity.
However, the truth surprises me. Blue Bottle is neither Japanese nor European. It was founded in Oakland, California, in 2002. While it embraces Japanese style, the brand’s actual roots are Californian. In 2017, Nestlé acquired a majority stake, expanding its reach to over 100 locations worldwide, including Japan, South Korea, and China.
Despite its true origins, Blue Bottle seems to benefit from the misconception of being Japanese. Although research shows that authenticity of origin enhances value, my observation flips this insight: when a brand’s origin is incorrectly perceived but aligns with its narrative, it can still elevates value. For Blue Bottle, the misperception of Japanese origins strengthens its image of precision and sophistication. Authenticity may not matter as much as perception.
It is well established that differences in manufacturing location can affect consumer preferences through lay inferences about production quality. In this article, the authors take a different approach to this topic by demonstrating how beliefs in contagion (the notion that objects may acquire a special aura or “essence” from their past) influence perceptions of authenticity for everyday consumer products and brands. Specifically, they find that due to a belief in contagion, products from a company’s original manufacturing location are viewed as containing the essence of the brand. In turn, this belief in transferred essence leads consumers to view products from the original factory as more authentic and valuable than identical products made elsewhere.
At the Huntington Art Museum in Los Angeles, I was captivated by a dining room table and chairs. They were not vibrant but organized. They were meticulously crafted. I could not take my eyes off these sophisticated colorful items.
Nearby, a reclining chair caught my attention as well. When I looked closer, I discovered these pieces were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Suddenly, everything made sense to me. His furniture mirrored his architecture—minimalistic, harmonious, and timeless. His work, including the famous Fallingwater, follows these principles.
Fallingwater is, according to Wikipedia, a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935. Situated in the Mill Run section of Stewart township, in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States, it is built partly over a waterfall on the Bear Run river. The house was designed to serve as a weekend retreat for Liliane and Edgar J. Kaufmann, the owner of Pittsburgh’s Kaufmann’s Department Store.
After its completion, Time called Fallingwater Wright’s “most beautiful job” and it is listed among Smithsonian’s “Life List of 28 Places to See Before You Die”. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named Fallingwater the “best all-time work of American architecture” and, in 2007, ranked Fallingwater 29th on its “America’s Favorite Architecture” list.
Eight of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings – Fallingwater, the Guggenheim Museum, the Hollyhock House, the Jacobs House, the Robie House, Taliesin, Taliesin West, and the Unity Temple – were inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites under the title The 20th-century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright in July 2019. UNESCO stated that these buildings were “innovative solutions to the needs for housing, worship, work or leisure” and “had a strong impact on the development of modern architecture in Europe.”
Although we are always attracted by something new, we sometimes try something old to enjoy its authenticity.
For instance, when a restaurant places an nostalgic vintage signboard outside or when it serves dishes in an ugly pot, we infer that the restaurant must have been loved by many people previously. This “old is good” intuition is so strong that it can even distort the quality of the dish.
I recently visited an approximately 15-year old restaurant and ordered a fish soup for two. It was served in a pot that was all wrinkled up. Although this fish soup was not delicious, I enjoyed it simply because the pot of the soup looked old.
Despite the popularity and high quality of machine-made products, handmade products have not disappeared, even in product categories in which machinal production is common. The authors present the first systematic set of studies exploring whether and how stated production mode (handmade vs. machine-made) affects product attractiveness. Four studies provide evidence for the existence of a positive handmade effect on product attractiveness. This effect is, to an important extent, driven by perceptions that handmade products symbolically “contain love.” The authors validate this love account by controlling for alternative value drivers of handmade production (effort, product quality, uniqueness, authenticity, and pride). The handmade effect is moderated by two factors that affect the value of love. Specifically, consumers indicate stronger purchase intentions for handmade than machine-made products when buying gifts for their loved ones but not for more distant gift recipients, and they pay more for handmade gifts when purchased to convey love than simply to acquire the best-performing product.
