Enabling social engagement for greater subjective well-being in South Africa

Abstract

The subjective well-being (SWB) in South Africa has been decreasing since 2008 (NIDS, 2016). SWB has a significant impact on economic performance in terms of productivity, physical and mental health, and altruism (Diener, Lucas, & Oishi, 2002). There is a myriad of factors that impact SWB however, many research studies have pinpointed meaningful personal relationships as one of the most influential factors (Diener & Oishi, 2000; Diener & Seligman, 2002; Fleeson, Malanos, & Achille, 2002; Mineo, 2017). The purpose of this business venture proposal was to formulate and justify a business case that would effectively help single young aspirational adults establish and develop meaningful friendships and romantic relationships through social engagement to increase SWB in South Africa. This study explored potential social engagement solutions to help young aspirational adults establish and develop meaningful friendships and romantic relationships through conducting qualitative in-depth face-to-face interviews with fourteen participants. Friendships and romantic relationships were confirmed to be strongly related to SWB. The study revealed young aspirational adults in South Africa have a greater unresolved need and desire to establish and develop meaningful romantic relationships as opposed to meaningful friendships. Furthermore, evidence suggests the need to establish and develop meaningful romantic relationships is greater for adults above the age of 30. Competing offerings in the relationship industry are not perceived as suitable and sufficient to resolve this need. As the identified ideal social engagement solution for the business venture, aspirational adults in South Africa would like to meet a variety of single people through different and ongoing positive and memorable experiences in a wide variety of different venues, where there is no pressure on attendees to establish an immediate romantic relationship. Accordingly, the business venture proposes to offer customers a wide variety of interactive and adventure activities as well as travel tours with other single people within a similar age group, which can be viewed and booked through the use of a user-friendly digital platform. The strategic business model for the proposed business venture offers low costs, high profit returns and high growth potential. Keywords: Subjective well-being (SWB), meaningful personal relationships, meaningful romantic relationships, single young aspirational adults, social engagement.