How to Be a Better Gift Giver Using Behavioral Science

As we enter the holiday season, many of us are tasked with buying gifts for our friends and family. You may be excited at demonstrating their thoughtfulness or you might feel burdened to make all of these decisions. Either way, here are some tidbits from the behavioral science literature on the value of gift giving and ideas on how you can maximize your (and your friends and family’s!) gift giving experience.

Think beyond the point of exchange

There’s often a mismatch between what gift givers think recipients want and what recipients actually want. This is because gift givers are often focused on the “wow factor,” the “big reveal,” and the emotional reaction of the recipient when they receive the gift, rather than what the gift’s value is over time (Yang & Urminsky, 2018). To rid these reaction-maximizing thoughts, imagine not giving the gift in person and instead focus on the long-term value of the gift.

Gift experiences

Experiential gifts can be more effective than material gifts at connecting people socially. Research has shown that experiential gifts strengthen the relationship between the gift giver and the recipient more than material gifts, even if the gift giver and recipient don’t use the gift together. This is because experiential gifts tend to elicit stronger positive emotions (Chan & Mogilner, 2007). But if you are set on a material gift, consider a material gift that reminds the recipient of a positive experience you had together with them, such as a wine glass to remind them of the fun wine tasting night you had together.

Don’t break the bank

We often think that the more money we spend on a gift, the more the recipient will appreciate because expensive gifts signal a higher level of thoughtfulness. However, research shows that recipients don’t report this association between the price of a gift and their actual feelings of appreciation. Recipients also don’t think that expensive gifts are more thoughtful (Flynn & Adams, 2009).

When in doubt, just ask

As discussed earlier, gift givers often focus on the element of surprise and deviate from a recipient’s wish list to appear more thoughtful and considerate. (This is even more true for gift givers that are close to the recipient.) And so, gift givers think that they’ll appreciate a rogue gift just as much. However, research shows that recipients are actually more appreciative of gifts they actually asked for (Gino & Flynn, 2011).

We hope that these snippets of behavioral science research help you find the optimal gifts to give to your loved ones this year, and just know that giving itself can have positive effects on the gift giver as well (Dunn et al., 2008).