Gift-giving is a form of communication. Yes, gift-giving can be stressful! Andrea shares the art and science of gift-giving, plus a gift for you – a free one-page summary of gift-giving do’s and don’ts.

YOUR GIFT FROM ANDREA

Get your one-page summary of gift-giving do’s and don’ts:

• https://www.talkabouttalk.com/gift-giving

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• LinkedIn Andrea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawojnicki/


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TRANSCRIPT

Well, hello there! Wow – the year is almost over. Can you believe it? It’s such a cliché, but the years really do go by fast.

Many of us mark the end of the year with a gift. It could be a personal gift – for a family or friend. Or it might be a professional gift for a client or a colleague. It might be a THANK YOU gift. Or you might be celebrating the Winter Solstice or Saint Nicholas Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, … or maybe you’re just celebrating the new calendar year? Chances are you’ve got some gifting to do.

Chances are you’re also a bit stressed out

Don’t worry – I got you! In the episode, you’re going to learn what the research says about gift-giving. I’m going to share a framework and specific do’s and don’t. I ALSO have a gift for you! Are you ready?

Welcome to TAT podcast episode 177 – Gift-Giving Do’s & Don’ts

This is a re-release of a previous episode – way back at episode 38. I just re-listened to that episode, I have to tell you, it’s ALL there. You’ll learn a lot – I promise.

Certainly, a few things have changed since then. Like the obvious one – there’s AI. Have you tried using AI to help you with your gift giving? I must admit, I have. “Hey Chat GPT, what’s a great gift for a client who’s constantly referring new business to me? Or what’s a great gift for my 17 year old son who’s obsessed with hockey?

Of course, the more specific you get about the person you’re gifting, the better the AI recommendations. As with all things AI, the personal human touch is what makes a big difference.

Now, before we get into this, I want to give YOU a gift.

I know this time of year can be very stressful. It feels like everything’s piling up, right? And on top of everything happening at work and personally, there’s also this added task of gift-giving. As you’ll hear in this episode, there IS reason to be anxious about gift giving. So, to help you with this anxiety, I have a gift for you! It’s this – a one-page summary of the do’s and don’ts of effective gift giving. Stop guessing, and base your gift giving decisions on what the research says. Here’s how you can get the one-pager: go to TAT.com/gift-giving ((((HYPHEN))). Then you can download this Free “Gift-Giving Guide,” a summary of the Dos & Dont’s of gift giving, including what the research says about what to worry LESS about. Yes, you heard me – what you should worry LESS about. You’re welcome. Just go to TAT.com gift-giving (hyphen) right now to get your one pager.

Alright let’s do this!

 Yes, gift-giving is a form of communication.  A significant one, it turns out.  Gift-giving is prevalent, it is a common phenomenon.  It is also highly symbolic.  The gifts we give and receive communicate a lot of things – about the giver, about the receiver, and about their relationship.

My goal for this episode is to help you mostly when you’re gifting someone, but also some things to think about when you’re receiving a gift.  By the end of this episode, you’ll have a list of things to consider, and yes, a few things to stop worrying about when it comes to gift giving.

If you guessed by the enthusiasm in my voice that I love this topic of gift-giving, well, you’re right. I first researched gift-giving over 15yrs ago when I was a doctoral student. Those of you who have been listening to previous Talk About Talk podcasts may recall that my main topic of academic research when I was a student was WOM. It occurred to me that WOM (or consumer recommendations about what to buy and warnings about what to avoid) was like a gift from one consumer to another.  So, at the time, I decided to study gift-giving to help me with my WOM research.  

Well, I can tell you that that research on gift-giving has stayed with me.  I can’t be in a room when a gift is being opened (whether the gift is from me or to me or whether I’m just an observer), I always go back to thinking about this research. It’s like having a whole different lens through which to observe the gift-giving phenomenon. Are you curious?  I can’t wait to share it with you.

CONTEXT

You know that feeling when you give a gift to someone and they absolutely LOVE it? It feels fantastic, doesn’t it?  

The opposite is true too though.  Gifting FAILS. Have you ever put a lotta  time and effort into finding an amazing gift for someone, and then – when the person opens it, you realize you bombed?  I can tell you personally that HAS happened to me – more than once.  And it really hurts – especially when the person, the receiver, is important to me and especially when I thought I nailed it.  It makes me question how well I know the person – and all sortsa things. 

I’m not sure if you ever considered this before, but gift giving is a form of communication. Have you ever considered that? Well, THAT is why we’re doing this podcast!

Gifts communicate things about us as givers, about also what we think about the receiver, and about what we think about our relationship with the receiver.  Layer onto that, gifts are highly susceptible to encoding and decoding errors (Sherry 1979).  In other words, misinterpretations (communication fails) can happen frequently in the gift-giving process.

So trust me – this gift-giving stuff is worth knowing.  Some of this research isn’t too surprising. For example, the significance of reciprocity in gift giving. In this podcast, you’ll learn what the research says about gift giving dynamics so that you can become a better gift giver and  a better gift receiver.  Or at least a more informed one. 

Let’s start with the significance of gift-giving.

SIGNIFICANCE OF GIFT GIVING

There is no Q that GIFT GIVING IS SIGNIFICANT.  There are two main reasons for this: the prevalence of gifts and the symbolism assoc