Researchers find the worst reason to give a gift
Money-saving gifts make people feel ashamed, study finds

Date:
July 13, 2020
Source:
Ohio State University
Summary:
Here's a good way to make sure a friend hates a gift from you:
Say it will save him money. In a series of studies, researchers
found that people reacted negatively to gifts that they were told -
or that they inferred - were given to help them save money.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Here's a good way to make sure a friend hates a gift from you: Say it
will save him money.


==========================================================================
In a series of studies, researchers found that people reacted negatively
to gifts that they were told -- or that they inferred -- were given to
help them save money.

Receiving this kind of present makes a person feel inferior to the
gift-giver, the research found. People are more receptive to gifts that
are intended to save them time.

"Most of us have this belief that any gift we give is going to be
appreciated - - but the way a gift is presented can influence how people
feel about it," said Grant Donnelly, co-author of the study and assistant professor of marketing at The Ohio State University's Fisher College
of Business.

The study was published recently in the Journal of the Association for
Consumer Research.

While money-saving gifts often miss the mark, gifts intended to save
people time are seen as a compliment, Donnelly said.



========================================================================== "When you don't have time, you're perceived as busy and in high
demand. There's something high-status about that, compared to not having
enough money, which is seen as low status," he said.

In one study, the researchers asked 405 people recruited online to
recall recently receiving a gift that they thought was intended by the gift-giver to save them either time or money.

They were asked to write a few sentences about how they felt about the
gift and then completed various measures assessing their impression of
the gift and gift-giver.

Results showed that those who received the gift intended to save them
money were more likely to say the gift made them feel embarrassed,
ashamed and bad, compared to those who recalled the time-saving gift.

The reason? Those who received the money-saving gift reported that they believed the gift-giver perceived their own status as higher than the recipient's.



========================================================================== "They thought the gift-giver was implying they couldn't take care of
themselves and were incompetent because they needed money," Donnelly said.

The results held true in a real-world situation, too. The researchers
provided 200 college students with a $5 Starbucks gift card to give to
a friend. Half of the gift cards included the message "I know you've
been stressed for money lately. I hope you'll enjoy this gift card in
hopes that it will save you some money." The other half had a message
that was identical except the message was that it would save them time,
rather than money.

All gift cards had a survey for the gift recipients to return to the researchers.

Results were identical to the first study: Those who received gift
cards intended to save them money had more negative emotions than those
who received the cards intended to save them time. In addition, those
who received the money-saving cards said they thought the gift-givers
believed they were higher- status than themselves.

If there was any bright spot for the people who sent the money-saving
gift card, it was that their friends were just as likely to redeem the
card as those who received it as a time-saver, Donnelly said.

Another study showed that people who imagined getting a gift card intended
to save them money were more likely to choose to buy a higher-status
item with that card -- presumably to boost their self-esteem that was
damaged with the money-saving gift.

"In part because people feel they have lower status if they need money,
they are more drawn to buy status-oriented products that can help them
bolster this deficiency they perceive," Donnelly said.

But sending your friends gifts to save them money doesn't just make
them feel bad about themselves. In one study, participants felt less appreciation for a money-saving gift than for a gift intending to save
them time, or a gift with no communicated motive.

Donnelly said it is important for people to consider the message they
send with their gifts.

"We can have this perspective gap where we don't really consider how our
gifts are received. It can harm your relationship with the recipient if
you're not careful," he said.

"It may be best to give a money-saving gift without acknowledging the
reason, or to find a way to make it about saving time."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original
written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Alice Lee-Yoon, Grant E. Donnelly, Ashley V. Whillans. Overcoming
Resource Scarcity: Consumers' Response to Gifts Intending to Save
Time and Money. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research,
2020; DOI: 10.1086/709887 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200713104351.htm

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