Well, sort of. We all know why we get bad gifts: It’s usually not because the gift givers are terrible people intending on hurting our feelings, it’s because they are clueless. So leave it to “researchers” to confirm what we already know:
The unneeded blender, the detested sweater, the loathed golf clubs that are stuffed in the back of every closet are bad gifts from loved ones that spectacularly failed to hit the mark.
But new research indicates there’s a sound reason why consumers buy the wrong presents for the people they love most. Researchers Davy Lerouge and Luk Warlop suggest, in an article published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, that we often feel overconfident when buying for loved ones. Shoppers also often mistakenly assume their tastes are the same as the gift recipient’s.
Sometimes common sense and a bit of thinking goes a long way. In both researching consumer behavior, as well as gift givign.
