This is the time to check the gift list that you will give to the closest person.
Make a list of who should be given a gift, how much money to spend, and most importantly, what you should buy.
In the UK, an average household spends around £ 500 to buy gifts during the holiday season, the same as Americans who spend around $ 650.
And even though giving a gift can make the giver feel happy, communicate your feelings to the recipient and even strengthen the relationship, it needs to be careful. Giving wrong gifts can have the opposite effect.
“Choosing the wrong gift can be risky for the relationship, because you could be considered to have nothing in common with the person you gave the gift to,” said Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada who is also a writer.
His research also shows that unwanted gifts can sometimes have a negative impact on recipients’ perceptions about potential future relationships.
Of course you don’t want a gift to cause more harm than good. Then how do you choose a gift that the recipient will like? Psychologists might have the answer.
It doesn’t have to be expensive
Do you have to pay a huge fee to show how much you care about someone?
Research shows that spending more money does not always guarantee the gifts are well received.
One study found that the more expensive a gift is, the greater the giver’s expectations for the recipient to appreciate.
But while the giver thinks spending more shows more attention, the recipient of the prize doesn’t pay much attention to it.
“It seems quite intuitive that if you spend more, you will get a better present in the future. It turns out there is no evidence that recipients will be sensitive to the price of the goods they receive,” said Jeff Galak, a marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business in the city of Pittsburgh, USA.
Jeff Galak, who studies consumer behavior and decision making, recognizes that a gift does have to have a certain minimum price because of existing habits or appropriateness.
But once the cost is met, “the higher price has no effect,” he said.
The contents of the prize itself are the most important.
Think long term
Galak said that the trick to giving a good gift is to think long-term how the gift will affect the recipient. This concept was discovered by him and his colleagues, Julian Givi and Elanor William, as a common theme in the study of gift giving.
“When someone gives a gift, they try to see a smile on the recipient’s face, right at that moment,” Galak said.
“In fact, what the recipient is concerned about is what value they will get for a longer period.”
In other words, it might not be interesting to see a friend or family member receive a gift in the form of a film streaming subscription.
But the recipient might really like it, because it is a gift that can be enjoyed from time to time.
Forget the uniqueness
Galak also suggested not to focus on finding and giving unique gifts.
Sometimes something that many people want or something that is not very unique that many others already have, is something that people want to give gifts to.
One study shows that we tend to focus on the unique traits and personalities of recipients when we shop for gifts for them.
But this makes us ignore other aspects of their wants and needs.
We also often buy different gifts for each person, even though they may want similar items or never compare gifts they can with others.
People are often mistaken when they feel they need to diversify gifts, according to Galak.
You might also avoid buying something that you already have because you don’t want to have the same item as someone else.
Your friend likes your sweatpants? Don’t avoid buying him the same pants just because you want to look unique.