As you are selecting a gift for one of your Hugsi connections, you may find yourself wondering, “why do people give gifts?” This is a common and complex question with a variety of answers! Below, we shed light on four of the most common reasons people engage in gift giving.
1. Altruism
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The gift giving process can be motivated by a pure desire to bring happiness to others, otherwise known as altruism. No ulterior consideration is in play when this type of giving occurs; the giver is inspired solely by a yearning to delight the recipient. They want to please the recipient, let them know they are cared for and loved, and bring them joy. Indeed, a great deal of academic research has shed light on the altruistic motives behind gift giving.
2. Egoistic Motives
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At the same time, much research has illuminated egoistic gift giving motives—or motivations that entail a desire to benefit the giver. For example, studies on the notion of reciprocity suggest that a gift is offered by a giver as a means of getting something (i.e., a gift) back from the recipient that is valuable to the giver. Along these same lines, research indicates that gift givers can be motivated to give by the “warm glow” (i.e., positive emotions) that people experience when they act in a charitable manner, by a desire to obtain status, and/or by a desire to give something that will ultimately benefit the giver (e.g., someone giving concert tickets to a spouse because they themselves really want to see the band).
3. The Giver-Recipient Dyad
Photo sourced: Canva, Getty Images, erkan gozcan Whereas parts of the above discussion illustrate how givers can use social norms—in particular, the norm of reciprocity—to their advantage, norms also sometimes force people to give when they do not necessarily want to. In other words, people sometimes give to comply with social norms. For example, unwritten rules dictate that a person should deliver a gift when someone close to them celebrates a birthday or previously gave them a gift. When people do not comply with such norms, they can experience negative emotions and feelings, such as embarrassment, guilt, and discomfort.
4. Social Norms
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Lastly, people sometimes give gifts because of the potential for gift giving to benefit the giver-recipient dyad. This motivation is essentially a hybrid of the first two (altruism and egotism), as it benefits both parties. For example, gift giving can be motivated by a longing to reinforce relationships. It can also be motivated by a desire to establish a sense of togetherness for a group and/or by a desire to offer social support to others.
Happy Gifting!
- The Hugsi Team 🎁
Visit hugsi.com to never receive a bad gift again! Note: This post was based on text from one of Dr. Givi’s publications (listed below) and borrows much of its text from that publication. The publication is the original source and should be credited and cited by others (instead of this blog post) who use the information in this blog post.
Givi, J., Birg, L., Lowrey, T. M., & Galak, J. (2022). An integrative review of gift‐giving research in consumer behavior and marketing. Journal of Consumer Psychology.
References:
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Caplow, T. (1982). Christmas gifts and kin networks. American Sociological Review, 47(3), 383–392.
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Givi, J. (2021). When a gift exchange isn’t an exchange: Why gift givers underestimate how uncomfortable recipients feel receiving a gift without reciprocating. Journal of Business Research, 129, 393–405.
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Wiener, H. J., Howe, H. S., & Chartrand, T. L. (2022). Being there without being there: Gifts compensate for lack of in‐person support. Psychology & Marketing, 39(6), 1267-1279.
Wolfinbarger, M. F. (1990). Motivations and symbolism in gift-giving behavior. In M. E. Goldberg, G. Gorn, & R. W. Pollay (Eds.), ACR North American Advances: Vol. NA-17 (pp. 699–706). Association for Consumer Research.
Wolfinbarger, M. F., & Yale, L. J. (1993). Three motivations for interpersonal gift giving: Experiential, obligated and practical motivations. In L. McAlister & M. L. Rothschild (Eds.), ACR North American Advances: Vol. NA-20 (pp. 520–526). Association for Consumer Research.