Communicating Through Gift-Giving (ep.147)

Gift-giving is a symbolic form of communication. Are you a good gift-giver? Andrea shares research-based tips about what matters and what doesn’t, so you can think about gift-giving more rationally. Here’s a hint: We should worry less about how much money we spend. It’s typically the “low substance, high sentiment” gifts that are appreciated. It really is the thought that counts! CONNECT WITH ANDREA & TALK ABOUT TALK Website: TalkAboutTalk.com Communication Coaching Newsletter:  https://talkabouttalk.com/blog/#newsletter-signup LinkedIn: Andrea and TalkAboutTalk Youtube Channel: @talkabouttalkyoutube Talk About Talk Podcast Archive GIFT-GIVING RESEARCH Talk About Talk ep17: What Our Possessions Say – https://talkabouttalk.com/17-what-our-possessions-say-with-russell-belk/ Mauss, Marcel (1924) THE GIFT https://archive.org/details/giftformsfunctio00maus/page/n9 Belk, Russell W. (1976) “It’s The Thought That Counts: A Signed Digraph Analysis of Gift-Giving” Journal of Consumer Research Belk & Coon (1991) “Can’t Buy me Love: Money, Dating & Gifts” Association for Consumer Research  Geisler, Markus (2006) “Consumer Gift Systems” Journal of Consumer Research  Sherry, John F. (1983) “Gift-Giving in Anthropological Perspective” Journal of Consumer Research Sherry, McGrath & Levy (1993) “The Dark Side of the Gift” Journal of Business Research Ward, Morgan K., & Broniarczyk, Susan M. (2011) “It’s Not Me, It’s You: How Gift Giving Creates Giver Identity Threat as a Function of Social Closeness” Journal of Consumer Research Wooten, David B. (2000) “Qualitative Steps Toward an Expanded Model of Anxiety in Gift-Giving” Journal of Consumer Research Professor Russell Belk:  https://schulich.yorku.ca/faculty/russell-w-belk/ 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. As I was planning episodes for the end of the year, I kept going back to one of my favorite topics: Gift giving. 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 professional gift for a client or a colleague. Whether you’re celebrating the Winter Solstice or Saint Nicholas Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti, Bowdee Day , Shōgatsu, or Maybe you’re just celebrating the new calendar year. Chances are you’ve got some shopping to do for other people. This is where I can help you. Even if you’re done your shopping for the year, I promise there are some insights in this episode that you can keep with you for every gift giving opportunity you have. – Again, whether professional or personal. The insights that you’re going to hear in in a minute all apply. Welcome to Talk About Talk episode #147.  I’m going to introduce this topic with a few of my favorite insights, then you’re going to hear an episode I recorded a few years ago on this topic.  That was way back at episode #38. When I just re-listened to that episode, I realized it’s ALL there. You’ll learn a lot – I promise. Certainly, a few things have changed since I recorded episode #38 on gift-giving a few years ago. For starter, there’s AI. It might be fun to ask AI what an appropriate gift would be for someone. As you add more and more information about them,