Events

Prof. Soo Kim
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Nanyang Business School
Nanyang Technological University

ABSTRACT

Witnessing the struggles of close others is an inevitable part of life. During these delicate moments, consumers often turn to material gifts to express their support and encouragement. Accordingly, the marketplace offers a wealth of options that assist consumers in conveying their support, such as products featuring affirming messages. Across six preregistered studies—including an analysis of customized gift designs by support-giving participants and an incentive-compatible dyadic choice study—this work demonstrates that support-giving consumers favor gifts that offer expressions of support tailored to struggling close other’s challenges:
Support-givers tend to choose gifts that express support specifically in the domain of the disclosed struggle (vs. in a supportive but non-domain-specific manner), perceive these gifts as more effective in alleviating close others’ struggles, and expect higher recipient demand for them. Studies find that this inclination is driven by support-giving consumers’ belief that domain-specific support-expressive gifts are more indicative of attentiveness. However, findings reveal that this inclination does not resonate well with receivers’ preferences. Whether domain-specific support-expressive gifts appear prescriptive (thus no longer simply attentive, but overbearing) serves as a boundary condition. Implications for consumer relational welfare and content and product design strategies for businesses that cater to support-giving consumers are discussed.