The psychology behind escapist marketing in anxious times

Why did Aritzia opened a coffee inside his flagship store in Toronto? Why did Burberry swivel fashion photography to cinematographic advertisements that transport viewers in dreamlike sequences? And why Simons, the remaining department store in Canada, incorporating art technologies and interactive in its retail spaces?

The answer lies in a trend known as escape marketing. At a time marked by economic uncertainty, climate anxiety, geopolitical tensions and incessant digital fatigue, brands turn to fantasy, narration and emotionally immersive design to sell products to consumers.

Evasion marketing is a strategy that creates emotionally immersive experiences to help consumers temporarily escape reality, often through fantasy, nostalgia or idealized lifestyles. He draws from the desire to relieve stress or monotony by offering imaginative or ambitious stories.

Evasion marketing has gained ground in Canada while consumers are attracted to brands that arouse imagination and emotional commitment. According to a 2024 Retail Council of Canada report, buyers of generation Z prefer brands that offer emotional connection, goal and creativity.

The large inaugural Canadian brand index, which one of us (Eugene Y. Chan) helped to develop, revealed that the brands perceived as adventurous, honest and imaginative have obtained the highest in favor of the public. These are precisely the qualities expressed by fantastic narration.

As marketing teachers and researchers, we studied how and why this approach works, and we found that it was anchored in psychology.

The rise of fantasy in the brand

Although brands have long used aspiration in their marketing, today’s strategies are significantly different. The objective has gone from luxury and exclusivity to escape itself, and it becomes more and more visible in all industries.

Consider the Coca-Cola “Real Magic” campaign, for example, which uses images generated by AI to create fanciful dream landscapes. Or the recent announcement “Mother Nature” of Apple, which refreshes a business report on the brand’s support to environmental and social problems as a high concept film with Octavia Spencer.

In London, the Gucci Gucci series of Gucci invites visitors to a surreal world of time travel and the history of design.

These marketing campaigns are all designed to be emotional experiences for consumers. This means that the emotional reactions that consumers have during interactions with a brand, a product or a service influence their attitudes, their memories and their future decision -making. These emotions deepen engagement and strengthen fidelity to the brand.

While consumers continue to feel exhausted and over-stimulated, fantasy in the form of an escape offers them mental relief. Research shows that immersive experiences – whether through entertainment, retail environments or brand narration – can distract stress factors and promote emotional recovery. By providing a temporary rupture of reality, marketing focused on fantasy exploits a deep psychological need for comfort and cognitive liberation.

Why does it work: the psychology of escape

To understand why escape marketing is so effective, it helps to look at psychology behind it.

An explanation comes from the theory of the level of construction, a framework which examines how the psychological distance shapes thought. When something feels far in time, space or familiarity, we tend to think about it more abstractly.

The image of a surreal or fantastic brand increases this distance, passing the attention of consumers from immediate utility to emotional resonance, identity and imagination.

Although marketing of escapes is a wider strategy that aims to help consumers mentally disengage from reality, a surreal or fantastic brand image is a specific tactic that uses older visuals and imaginative stories to achieve this goal.

All the marketing of escapes is not surreal, but the surrealist brand image is often used as a powerful escape by transporting consumers in an alternative world.

Our research supports this. In a study, we have explored how concave visual design – where advertising elements bend inward – attracts viewers in imaging, increases the feelings of immersion and improves the recall and persuasion of messages. This is probably why dream campaigns often use fluid, expansive or distorted images.

Another factor is anthropomorphism: the tendency to attribute human features to objects or environments. In our studies on the destination brand, we have found that people are more emotionally linked to places or products that seem to come to life. These results help to explain why the fantastic brand resonates so strongly with consumers, especially during stress.

The escape is also naturally married with the luxury brand, where emotional desire often prevails over functional need. In a recent study with our research colleagues, we found that luxury brands were evaluated more favorably when their positioning was abstract or high. Fantasy improves this effect, allowing consumers to feel both richer and transported.

Escape is not a free pass

There is a thin line between significant escape and empty spectacle. If the fantastic story of a brand feels disconnected from its action or seems to mask practices contrary to ethics, consumers are quick to notice.

Lewashing, the overuse of AI or deaf advertising can easily turn against businesses.

When consumers perceive a brand as an inauthentic – whether by complaints of misleading sustainability, excessive dependence on AI or insensitive messaging – it can erode confidence, trigger public criticism and lead to the avoidance of the brand.

Studies show that such errors often cause reputation damage and a decrease in customer loyalty, especially among consumers focused on socially values ​​or aware.

This is where the concept of radical honesty believes itself with escape. The most effective marketing campaigns now mix creativity with transparency. They tell imaginative stories while also recognizing real questions such as carbon emissions, work practices and social justice issues.

Brands like Patagonia – and the Peace Collective in Canada which works in collaboration with McDonalds – have managed to find this balance by combining emotionally impactful advertising campaigns with commitments to ethical and lasting practices.

Consumers want experiences that resonate

In times of economic stress and cultural fatigue, Canadians are looking for experiences that resonate. When done in a reflected way and based on psychology and authenticity, escape marketing can respond to the desire of consumers to feel something deeper, even via something as short as an announcement of 30 seconds.

So, the next time you find yourself smiling at a surrealist advertisement or dwelling in a carefully organized retail space, understand that the small moment of wonder is a strategic choice, supported by research.

But while the immersive narration can captivate the public, consumers become more demanding on what seems authentic. The future of escape marketing can reside in the mixture of digital and physical realities. Tools like augmented and virtual reality can allow brands to create even more immersive fantasies.

Imagine ordering coffee from a character generated by AI or in a brand Metaversh cafe. Although it may seem futuristic and fun, many consumers feel uncomfortable when brands count too much on artificial interactions, fearing a loss of authenticity. This tension highlights the growing fracture between technological novelty and consumers of human connections that are still looking for.

As technology evolves, the same goes for the expectations of consumers of emotional and imaginative engagement. The next chapter of the fantastic brand image can not only offer us an escape, but could redefine the way we live the trade itself.

This article is republished from the conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.