Impact of Giving on Self and Impact of Self on Giving

Recent research suggests that consumers are spending billions of dollars in interpersonal and self-gifting and yet, there is limited research regarding the giver's role of self and how this influences the choice of gift. Because self is so intertwined in both types of giving, the research reported here explores if different dimensions of the malleable self will be activated in various gift-giving contexts, depending upon the receiver and the occasion of the gift. Testing a conceptual model that for the first time combines both types of giving, this research uses three studies to explore how the gift-giving context can act as a situational cue and make accessible a particular view of the self, namely the giver's gender identity and self-construal to motivate choice of gift. Results suggest a new paradigm for considering consumer gift behavior and have theoretical and practical implications for advertising, selling, and other marketing contexts.