The idea of being engaged is becoming harder and harder to swallow in such a fluid society. Any change in society is also a great business opportunity. Think of it this way: People don’t want to be “engaged” but they certainly don’t want to be lonely, so just rebrand the term in an Orwellian strategy and call it a promise ring. Promise is a good connotation. Engaged, that’s more scary. This way you’re not “engaged,” you’re just not lonely because someone promised you something.

When someone puts a ring on your finger, you can’t help but feeling committed. It’s human nature from millennia of cultural programming. Men and women have been committing to each other for centuries, for better or worse, so there’s no reason they shouldn’t do it now, if only they need some different sort of language with which to couch it in. It would be an interesting research project indeed to see how many  promise rings result in an engagement ring result in a wedding ring. If the conversion rate is high, then promise rings are indeed a successful transitional ring and the new engagement ring. If not, then the promise ring industry is going to have a lot of returns on its hands.

 

There are also other advantages to renaming a brand. For one, you can have new designs that are not acceptable for the classic engagement ring. Promise rings are distinct in that they have heart designs and peace sign designs and all kinds of more modernistic symbology. Engagement rings are generally a diamond in a setting.