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?
The Author
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. em. Bernd Stauss held the Chair of Service
Management at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
-
What mistakes should we avoid when giving gifts in romantic
relationships?
-
When is a monetary gift appropriate and when is it not?
The presentation of psychological gift-giving research is supplemented
by references to gift-giving episodes in fiction by authors such as Paul
Auster, Jonathan Franzen, Margaret Mitchell, and Thomas Mann. These
illustrate the scientific findings and allow us to emotionally
comprehend the experience of giving and receiving.
The Author
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. em. Bernd Stauss held the Chair of Service
Management at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
