Companies Target a New Market: The Stressed Out
Drivers climbing into the new Lincoln Nautilus enter “a sanctuary,” Lincoln declares in the car’s ads. Seats offer massage, vents emit refreshed air and sound-dampening materials eliminate outside ruckus.
To avoid jarring seat-belt reminders and other car alerts, Lincoln, which is owned by Ford Motor Co. , worked with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to compose soft chimes to play instead. A lighting display that activates when approaching the vehicle is called the “Lincoln Embrace,” the company says. “The door opens and it really feels like a human hug,” says Kemal Curic, Lincoln’s design director.
Long before Covid-19 hit last year, rising stress was identified as one of Americans’ major concerns. Now, more than a year into the pandemic, consumers’ stress levels have been soaring. In June, nearly one-third of Americans reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2019, only 11% of Americans reported such symptoms, according to a comparable survey from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Young adults and those with less than a high-school education reported the largest increases in symptoms, but every racial, ethnic, gender and age group said they experienced some increase, federal health researchers said earlier this year.
