Economic Dimensions of Household Gift Giving

Valuing customers for social network services

“…Men show a higher level of gift-giving behavior in their relationships with lovers, whereas women show a higher level of gift-giving to friends. Studies at the household level on gifts demonstrate that the cost of establishing and maintaining social relationships accounts for a specific portion of household income (Garner and Wagner, 1991). Becker (1974) explains customer gift purchase behavior on the basis of social interaction theory, noting that social networks exert important effects on gift purchase behavior, and that gifts convey meaning in terms of both personality expression and symbolic communication.…”

Different to ‘dust collectors’? The giving and receiving of experience gifts

“…Moreover, the United Kingdom was cited by an industry expert (Red Letter Days Interview) as the most developed market globally for experience gifts; this, plus the fact that many gifting studies are the United States based (e.g. Goodwin et al, 1990;Wagner et al, 1990;Garner and Wagner, 1991), makes the geographic location a relevant choice. To balance, there are indications in other studies that the value attached to donor sacrifice of time and effort, and to the appreciation of surprise, may play out differently in Eastern cultures (Rucker et al, 1996;Belk, 1996b).…”

Give them what they want: The benefits of explicitness in gift exchange

“…Gifts account for more than 4% of the typical household budget (Davis, 1972;Garner & Wagner, 1991), which suggests that gift-giving is a routine activity for most people. Nevertheless, research consistently shows that many individuals are poor gift givers, often purchasing gifts that others would not choose to buy themselves (e.g., Waldfogel, 1993) or focusing on the wrong criterion when attempting to select a meaningful gift (e.g., Flynn & Adams, 2009).…”