The art of Gift Giving

As pumpkins and spider webs started to change into Christmas lights and decorations, pressures of buying gifts for my family, friends, and especially, my girlfriend, increased. Luckily (or not so luckily) for me, my girlfriends birthday is on December 23th, obligating me to look for two especial gifts (I have tried combining both Birthday and Christmas gifts into one in the past, needless to say the reactions were not great). Making things even more complicated, my girlfriend is the kind of person that had it all: clothes that has still their tags on them, jewelry, shoes of every kind, all of what you can think of she had it. So what should I get her? 

On top of all the pressure, a few months earlier on my birthday she had delivered a beautiful polo jersey as a gift, so I really thought I owed her this one. I needed to find the perfect gift. (Below you can see the picture of us both, me of course, wearing her gift).

Having assignments still due and final exams coming soon, my time was limited, and the process of buying the two perfect gifts was becoming more of an stress than an enjoyable experience. After procrastinating online, I found what I though it was a unique jacket that she will love. Looking for some extra advice and approval I decided to ask her best friend, she loved it. The jacket (which was on sale which was a huge plus) was what I thought would be one of the perfect gift and relieve started to fill me as I received the confirmation order for my purchase. As I was looking for the other gift, and for my surprise, I received and email from the store I ordered the jacket that read " Sorry for the inconvenience, but your order has been cancelled". Frustrated, I wrote to the store, and they argued, that there was no XS size left of the jacket, and that my order could not be processed. At this point, stress was high, as I was in the middle of finals, and had no gifts for my especial one. 

Do not get me wrong, I love giving her things, as I believe they demonstrate the love I have for her, but finding the right gift was not being easy. Desperate, I  sought help in her best friend, and luckily she sent me links to things she might like. Soon, I found a jacket which could be shipped from Spain for no extra charge, so I felt proud I had one gift for her. I knew, as it was only a jacket, it would be for Christmas, as I felt it was a more generic gift that would not cause the "WOW" factor in her.

Having no time to go to the mall, my nights started to become endless internet searches on women's products I knew little about. 

When I was about to give up, one day, my girlfriends best friend sent me a link on what I thought it was an overpriced pendant necklace. First, I did not consider it at all, but then I thought on the prestige of the brand (it was a Tiffany's  and how cheap it was compared to all the rest of the products they offered. I started to consider it more and more, and I thought of the gift the next couple of days, having the dilemma if that was the gift for her or not. After thorough debating I decided to give up on my search and go for the necklace. I started the buying process, and it asked if I wanted the gift to be engraved, I considered it a nice detail (and what was 20 extra bucks anyways right?). After that, it appeared that the product was only delivered through Fedex, making it 30 extra dollars. Long story short, with all of the extra costs I paid around 35% more for the gift. But at the end, it was worth it: the gift buying process was done. 

Now I could sit back, relax and think on my exams. 

Gift giving can be defined as symbolic and economic exchange were "consumers procure the perfect object(artifact), meticulously remove the price tag (symbolically changing the item from a commodity to a unique good), carefully wrap it, and deliver it to the recipient (SWD, p.434). The gift giving process, as described with the story above, can be more of an stressful rather than a gratifying experience.

According to the slides, gift giving rituals if a form of economic exchange - recipients are obligated to reciprocate, and that is how I felt about the birthday gift I had to buy for my girlfriend. As I mentioned earlier, a few months before, she had came with a very thoughtful, unique gift, which I enjoyed a lot. I knew that it was not cheap, hence I felt the obligation of giving her something that was at least, approximately the same in economic terms. Even though my girlfriends intentions (I am sure), was for my birthday gift to be a form of symbolic exchange were my girlfriend was motivated by unselfish factors and did not expected me to reciprocate, I did felt I had an obligation to meet her expectations, causing myself a very stressful gift giving process.

As mentioned in the Dark Side of Gift giving, owing someone a gift is not fun and it is a pressure. In this case, after the gift my girlfriend had gave me, I felt uncomfortable on not giving her something that was even better. This also brings me, to some other interesting aspect that I learned about gift giving. Often, one is willing to spend more in a gift that he is for himself. After I bought my girlfriend the necklace, I compared the price on how many things for myself I could have buyer (to put things into comparison, I could have almost bought a Play Station 4 (which I really. really want) for myself), yet I am not willing to spend that kind of money for myself as I found it a waste). 

With this, I am not saying that gift giving is not a pleasurable experience, because as you finally buy something, you feel relieved and you feel you just found the perfect thing to demonstrate all of what you fill for that especial person. Even though the process might seem stressful, at the end gift giving is very gratifying and fulfilling. I feel that money is better spent for others than for one, and that in is a especial occasion to say thank you in a unique way. 

Now that I think back about all the stress that I went through to buy both gifts for my girlfriend, I feel all was worth at the end because she deserves, and everyone that is worth gift giving, deserves the time and effort of those little details. 

From a marketer and consumer perspective, gift giving is a big opportunity for corporations, as people are willing to spend more in someone else than for themselves. Gift giving can be accompanied by an occasion such as Christmas, or for a persons birthday or any especial day such as an anniversary. Companies should take advantage of this facts, and offer consumers with packing that is ready for gift giving. Furthermore, the holidays, are a great opportunity for companies to promote gift giving and market their products as the best gift anyone could receive. Furthermore, there are businesses that almost entirely defendant on gift giving, for example, Tiffany and Co, relies on husbands and boyfriends that want to buy their significant other the perfect gift that ranges from a pair of earnings to engagement rings. This being said, gift giving should be seen as a very important advantage for companies as they can take advantage of promotions, nice packing, and the generosity of the holidays to promote the consumption of their products. 

We can see what a great opportunity gift giving is for any business, as they have to encourage the purchase of their products. It is also a very especial time of the year for promotions and advertisements, as well as to demonstrate the gratification of gift giving. For example, WestJet, for the second consecutive year, have surprised us all with real time gift giving in advertisements that had gone viral because on how the marketing campaign is set up: instant gift giving gratification. The following two examples are great examples on how corporations take advantage on holidays to create promotions and promote gift giving and not only the material component of it but also the sentimental one.

Last Years WestJet Gift Giving Commercial:

And they did it again: 

Marry Christmas and Happy Gift Giving!

Solomon, M. R., Zaichkowsky, J. L. and Polegato, R. (2013) Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being, Sixth Canadian Edition. Toronto: Prentice Hall Canada.