Behavioral costs as determinants of cost perception and preference formation for gifts to receive and gifts to give

• Published in: Journal of economic psychology Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 333 - 350
• Main Authors: Robben, Henry S.J., Verhallen, Theo M.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.06.1994; Elsevier Science; Elsevier; North-Holland Pub. Co; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Series: Journal of Economic Psychology
• Subjects: Advertising. Marketing. Consume behavior; Applied psychology; Behavioral decision theory; Biological and medical sciences; Characteristics; Consumer behavior; Consumer behaviour; Costs; Economic psychology; Experiments; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gift; Gifts; Preferences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Studies; Human; Consumer behavior; Costs; Attitude; Price; Preference; Effort; Adult; Consumer good; Subjective evaluation; Investment
• ISSN: 0167-4870; 1872-7719
• DOI: 10.1016/0167-4870(94)90008-6

Four experiments on the evaluation of gifts are reported, two on receiving gifts and two on giving gifts. In a fractional factorial design we investigated the effects of personal relationship, gift occasion and four cost categories, namely financial, time, psychic, and physical costs, on the preference for gifts to give and for gifts to receive. Participants judged gift scenarios after reading descriptions containing external characteristics of gift situations. In the experiments on receiving gifts, manipulation of the behavioral cost variables induced a cost perception and a corresponding preference effect: Gifts that were evaluated as more costly in terms of time, mental and physical effort were significantly preferred. The gift-giving experiments showed no substantial relationship between perception of costs and preference for gifts to give, although mental effort appeared to exert a significant effect on both cost perception and preference for a gift to give. The results suggested that in receiving a gift the evaluation is afected by a perception of costs incurred, while in giving a gift the perception of costs did not lead to a change in the evaluation of the gift. Giving and receiving gifts are not reciprocal with regard to the type and number of factors that explain the relationship between costs and valuation.