Overindividuation in gift giving: Shopping for multiple recipients leads givers to choose unique but less preferred gifts
Steffel and Le Boeuf, Journal of Consumer Research 40(6), 2014, 1167-1180. Six experiments. Givers choosing for multiple recipients often passed up gifts better liked by a recipient in favour of a different gift for each, even when recipients would not compare. Not driven by different perceptions of recipients; driven by a wish to be thoughtful by treating each as unique. Focusing on recipients' preferences reduced it and helped givers choose better-liked gifts.
Steffel and Le Boeuf, Journal of Consumer Research 40(6), 2014, 1167-1180. Six experiments. Givers choosing for multiple recipients often passed up gifts better liked by a recipient in favour of a different gift for each, even when recipients would not compare. Not driven by different perceptions of recipients; driven by a wish to be thoughtful by treating each as unique. Focusing on recipients' preferences reduced it and helped givers choose better-liked gifts.
Written from the abstract.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Steffel, M., & Le Boeuf, R. A. (2014). Overindividuation in gift giving: Shopping for multiple recipients leads givers to choose unique but less preferred gifts. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(6), 1167-1180. doi:10.1086/674199 https://doi.org/10.1086/674199