Psychology of Gift-Giving

Gift-giving is an economically significant area of consumer behavior. For we are constantly buy gifts: for Christmas and Mother’s Day, for birth and baptism, for the start of school and exams, for engagements and weddings, for birthdays or as souvenirs. Moreover, gift-giving is a very important psychological phenomenon, based on voluntariness, but also representing a duty and requiring compliance with rules. Thus, gift giving is by no means always associated with joy, but also with stress in the search for a perfect gift and disappointment when gifts fail.

The book presents central results of psychological research on gift-giving. These provide answers to the following questions, among others:

What ‘secret’ rules of giving and receiving do we follow?
What messages do we send with our gifts?
How do certain characteristics - such as the amount of the price or empathy - influence satisfaction with a Gift-giving is an economically significant area of consumer behavior. For we are constantly buy gifts: for Christmas and Mother’s Day, for birth and baptism, for the start of school and exams, for engagements and weddings, for birthdays or as souvenirs. Moreover, gift-giving is a very important psychological phenomenon, based on voluntariness, but also representing a duty and requiring compliance with rules. Thus, gift giving is by no means always associated with joy, but also with stress in the search for a perfect gift and disappointment when gifts fail. The book presents central results of psychological research on gift-giving. These provide answers to the following questions, among others:
· What ‘secret’ rules of giving and receiving do we follow?

· What messages do we send with our gifts?

· How do certain characteristics - such as the amount of the price or empathy - influence satisfaction with a gift?

· What mistakes should we avoid when giving gifts in romantic relationships?

· When is a monetary gift appropriate and when is it not?