Holiday Misgivings

HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42 HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42 HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42 HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42 HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42 HOLIDAY MISGIVINGS The surprising personal economics behind holiday gift-giving Presented by We PAY THE GIFT VALUATION GAP OTHER GIFT MISGIVINGS WHAT HAPPENS TO GIFTS Behavioral studies show that individuals place a lower value (up to 18%) on items they receive as gifts than the value of the same item they purchase themselves. At least one gift per person is.. Never opened 42% Gift Price: $50 Returned 38% Regifted 28% Value to Recipient: $41 WHY GIFT BUYING IS A POWER PLAY In one study focused on small gifts, people who considered themselves powerful were willing to spend much more on themselves than on others. Sweater Gift Price: $499 Those who didn't were far more selfless. SELF - OTHER $13 $12.08 Value to Recipient: $409 12 $10.81 11 $7.10 -...... ...$6.49. ...... iPad Powerful Not-powerful Gift Price: $1,000 THE TIME SUCK Value to Recipient: $820 This year, each person will spend 22.5 hours Diamond Ring on gift-buying and related tasks. hours Shopping 15 THE GIFT CARD VALUATION GAP Waiting in checkout lines 3.5 Wrapping 3 So many gift cards go unused that a secondary market has sprung up to allow others to buy them at substantial discounts off face value. Returning gifts UNUSED 1-800 FLOWERS.COM GIFT CARD $100 UNUSED AMC THEATRES GIFT CARD WHOSE GIFTS ARE MOST VALUABLE? $70 $33° The same gift can be valued differently, depending on who gives it. Here is the pecking order, from most valuable to least: 60 Market Value Market Value THE GIFT CARD ECONOMY WHAT WE WILL SPEND ON GIFT CARDS THIS SEASON: $91 BILLION 1. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 8% 2. GRANDPARENTS 3. SIBLINGS Other 4. PARENTS UNUSED: $2.5 BILLION 51% 41% 5. FRIENDS 6. IN-LAWS Didn't Forgot Reasons why people don't use gift cards: have time 7. AUNTS & UNCLES THE FRUITCAKE CONTRADICTION Despite being universally despised as a gift item, one in four Americans consider giving it every year. THE GIFT GENDER GAP Married couples have very different views about who handles gift-buying responsibility. WOMEN DO ALL COUPLES SHARE THE SHOPPING THE RESPONSIBILITY SOURCES Gift valuation and most valuable list: Joel Waldfogel, The Wharton School, "Does Consumer Irrationality Trump Consumer Sovereignty?" Gift card valuation: Cardpool.com, 12/17/10; Gift Card Economy: TowerGroup, "New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market," Nov. 2010; Unused gift card reasons: Consumer Reports survey, 11/3/10; What happens to gifts: Visa survey, 11/4/10; Gift gender gap: Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey; Time spent: Consumer Reports survey, 11/16/10; Power: Journal of Consumer Research, "Power Drives Consumer Spending on Self Vs. Others," 10/2010; Fruitcake: Survey, Colin Street Bakery 49% 75% 33% 20% AGREE AGREE AGREE AGREE we PAY A better way to collect money online. AMOUNT SPENT $42