Written by: Sanija Jansone

Could be published in: eventbride blog (https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ )

What is escapist experience and how to create it?

For more than 100 years humanity has been building a life with comfort,
which has significantly shifted the mindset from surviving to experiencing. Less and
less joy and fulfillment is associated with the things we own. Rather, people are
willing to invest big money in experiences, which create memories. Event experience
can be a source of inspiration or self-reflection that people are looking for on a daily
basis.
What is escapist experience?
Escapist experience is a type of four experiences Joseph Pine and James Gilmore
has defined explaining experience economy, a concept that highlights experience as
the main value that people actually want to receive. Each of realms of experience
emphasize different kind of involvement in the event.
 Entertainment experience is about feeling;
 The educational experience – learning;
 the esthetic experience is about being physically present and enjoying event
from the visual perspective;
 the escapist experience is about doing.

The article is going to reveal, what are the main aspects that describe escapist
experience.
1. Interactivity
Escapism is all about interactivity. When it comes to producing activities, all
the experiences will depend on the customer’s active participation. In the passive
participation a person do not affect the performance itself, having just the mental
presence, just as being in the theater, cinema or museum. However, in the active
participation a person becomes an active part of the environment, for example,
playing casino, skating, solving a task etc. 1 A person is the actor and affect the
performance.
2. Immersion
Apart of active participation, an immersive physical environment as well as
thrilling context is a must to create escapist experience. The immersion indicates that
the participant is “drawn in” the experience, forgetting about the reality, almost
feeling a “live” version of a basic fantasy novel. It is important to create an event as a
story.
3. Unexpectedness and excitement
Action, thrills and adrenaline is what the participants in escapist experience
should feel. The feeling can be comparable with base jumping, mountain climbing or
parachuting, when a person gets memorable experience, which can be felt all over the
body. It is important to think, how the surprise element in the escapist experienced can
be set up. Unexpected events can cause excitement and full attention towards the
present moment in experience.2
4. Break from reality
In the escapist experience one of the most important aspect is creating “a break from
reality”. For example, when going for shopping people “take a break from reality” by
exploring, touching, feeling, interacting with the products that might fit into their
lives.3 In the event it can be done using the story as a guideline and depending all the
decorations, lights, music and activities on the theme. Connecting the details is the
key to creating successful escapist experience.
For instance, “Party like Gatsby” is a great example of immersive 20s experience,
including magicians, music and putting people at the spotlight with the special
dresscode and dancing style.

1
https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/1528008X.2011.541847
2
https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570010335958
3
file:///C:/Users/Sanija/Downloads/218752-Article%20Text-537376-1-10-
20211213%20(2).pdf
Photo from: https://partylikegatsby.eu/
5. Innovation and technology
Projections on the walls, virtual reality glasses and the customes that transfer signals
on the body of a person playing a game in virtual reality are just some of the
examples, how innovation can create immersive experience. With an opportunity to
digitalize all types of pictures, drawings or other visual material, there are no
limitations for what kind of enviroment to create in the location. Experiencing the sea,
space, forest or even time-travel in a single room can be possible if the pictures or
videos are digitalized. When participants are visually immersed and actively
participate in this make-believe experience, it will become enjoyable and memorable,
which escapist experience is all about.4

6. Target audience
It is important to consider the age of target audience, because some consumer groups
are not interested in immersion or in active participation. For example, people from
older generations. Research shows that escapist experience is the most enjoyable for
the people in the age of 18-34. It is not only matter of the interest, but physical ability
as well. 5
Interestingly, young people usually choose escapist experiences, which can be
explained by the fact that the interaction between people on a daily basis happens
through the internet, video games or social media platforms. The virtual environment
itself is highly immersive, which has changed the perception of what experience is

4
file:///C:/Users/Sanija/Downloads/218752-Article%20Text-537376-1-10-
20211213%20(2).pdf
5
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka-Kacprzak-3/publication/
325711531_The_Empirical_Analysis_of_Consumers'_Attitudes_towards_Experience_Realms/links/
5b1f89c00f7e9b0e373e484d/The-
interesting, and what is not. Escapist experience is the new standart for the events for
young people.6
Conclusion
It is important to remember that escapist experience is interactive, immersive,
unexpected and exciting. It is a break from reality that also helps people to lift up the
mood, feel cheerful, forget about daily life and gain inspiration. Innovations and
usage of digital techonology, such as virtual reality, projectors is what helps to make
escapist experience immersive.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka-Kacprzak-3/publicatio
n/
325711531_The_Empirical_Analysis_of_Consumers'_Attitudes_towards_Ex
perience_Realms/links/5b1f89c00f7e9b0e373e484d/The-Empirical-
Analysis-of-Consumers-Attitudes-towards-Experience-Realms.pdf
Written by: Sanija Jansone
Could be published in: eventbride blog (https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ )

What is escapist experience and how to create it?

For more than 100 years humanity has been building a life with comfort, which has
significantly shifted the mindset from surviving to experiencing. Less and less joy and
fulfillment are associated with the things we own. Rather, people are willing to invest
big money in experiences, which create memories. Event experience can be a source
of inspiration or self-reflection that people are looking for daily. 
What is escapist experience?
Escapist experience is a type of four experiences Joseph Pine and James Gilmore have
defined explaining experience economy, a concept that highlights experience as the
main value that people actually want to receive. Each of the realms of experience
emphasizes different kinds of involvement in the event. 
 The entertainment experience is about feeling;
 The educational experience – learning;
 the esthetic experience is about being physically present and enjoying an event from
the visual perspective;
 the escapist experience is about doing.
The article is going to reveal, what are the main aspects that describe the escapist
experience.
Interactivity Escapism is all about interactivity. When it comes to producing
activities, all the experiences will depend on the customer’s active participation. In
passive participation, a person does not affect the performance itself, having just the
mental presence, just as being in the theater, cinema or museum. However, in active
participation a person becomes an active part of the environment, for example,
playing casino, skating, solving a task, etc. (Mehmetoglu&Engen, 2011) A person is
the actor and affects the performance.
1. Immersion
Apart from active participation, an immersive physical environment, as well as a
thrilling context, is a must to create the escapist experience. The immersion indicates
that the participant is “drawn in” the experience, forgetting about reality, almost
feeling a “live” version of a basic fantasy novel. It is important to create an event as a
story.
1. Unexpectedness and excitement
Action, thrills, and adrenaline are what the participants in the escapist experience
should feel. The feeling can be comparable with base jumping, mountain climbing, or
parachuting when a person gets a memorable experience, which can be felt all over
the body. It is important to think about how the surprise element in the escapist
experienced can be set up. Unexpected events can cause excitement and full attention
towards the present moment in experience. (Pine&Gilmore, 2000)
1. Break from reality
In the escapist experience, one of the most important aspects is creating “a break from
reality”. For example, when going shopping people “take a break from reality” by
exploring, touching, feeling, and interacting with the products that might fit into their
lives. (Cassel et al., 2021) In the event it can be done using the story as a guideline
and depending all the decorations, lights, music and activities on the theme.
Connecting the details is the key to creating a successful escapist experience.
 For instance, “Party like Gatsby” is a great example of an immersive 20s experience,
including magicians, music, and putting people in the spotlight with the special dress
code and dancing style.
Photo from: https://partylikegatsby.eu/ 
1. Innovation and technology

 Projections on the walls, virtual reality glasses, and the customs that transfer signals
on the body of a person playing a game in virtual reality are just some of the examples
of how innovation can create an immersive experience. With an opportunity to
digitalize all types of pictures, drawings, or other visual material, there are no
limitations for what kind of environment to create in the location. Experiencing the
sea, space, forest, or even time travel in a single room can be possible if the pictures
or videos are digitalized. When participants are visually immersed and actively
participate in this make-believe experience, it will become enjoyable and memorable,
which the escapist experience is all about. (Cassel et al., 2021) 
1. Target audience
It is important to consider the age of the target audience, because some consumer
groups are not interested in immersion or active participation. For example, people
from older generations. Research shows that the escapist experience is the most
enjoyable for people between 18-34. It is not only a matter of interest but a physical
ability as well. (Kacprzak et al., 2015)
Interestingly, young people usually choose escapist experiences, which can be
explained by the fact that the interaction between people daily happens through the
internet, video games, or social media platforms. The virtual environment itself is
highly immersive, which has changed the perception of what experience is interesting,
and what is not. Escapist experience is the new standard for events for young people.
(Kacprzak et al., 2015)
Conclusion
It is important to remember that the escapist experience is interactive, immersive,
unexpected, and exciting. It is a break from reality that also helps people to lift up
their mood, feel cheerful, forget about daily life and gain inspiration. Innovations and
usage of digital technology, such as virtual reality and projectors are what help to
make the escapist experience immersive.

  [1] https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/1528008X.2011.541847
Mehmetoglu, M., & Engen, M. (2011). Pine and Gilmore’s Concept of Experience Economy
and Its Dimensions: An Empirical Examination in Tourism. Journal of Quality Assurance in
Hospitality & Tourism, 12(4), 237–255. DOI:10.1080/1528008x.2011.541847

[2] Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (2000). Satisfaction, sacrifice, surprise: Strategy &

Leadership, 28(1), 18–23. DOI:10.1108/10878570010335958

[3] Cassel, E., Jacobs, B.& Graham, M. (2021). Effects of the four realms of
experience and pleasurable experiences on consumer intention to patronise pop-up
stores. Journal of Consumer Sciences, 49 (1).
[4] Cassel, E., Jacobs, B.& Graham, M. (2021). Effects of the four realms of
experience and pleasurable experiences on consumer intention to patronise pop-up
stores. Journal of Consumer Sciences, 49 (1).
[5]  Kacprzak et al. (2015). The Empirical Analysis of Consumers’ Attitudes towards
Experience Realms. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka-
Kacprzak-3/publication/325711531_The_Empirical_Analysis_of_Consumers
%27_Attitudes_towards_Experience_Realms/links/5b1f89c00f7e9b0e373e484d/The-
Empirical-Analysis-of-Consumers-Attitudes-towards-Experience-Realms.pdf

Adreassi, et al. (2014) Cultural impact of human resource practices on job

satisfaction. DOI: 10.1108/CCM-05-20120044