Most of us are actually terrible at giving gifts. About $70 billion worth of presents are returned every year in the U. S. Here are three ways to improve your gift-giving game around the holidays.
Stop trying to make your gifts so delightful. We want something from giving: those looks of delight. Those exclamations. This is why items like hyper-specific kitchen gadgets and fancy vintage clocks all seem like fantastic gifts. But it turns out, recipients often want things that are far more practical-things they can actually use.
Just give people what they ask for. A study looked at Amazon wish lists to determine if people were more appreciative of gifts from the list versus gifts that were total surprises. It turned out that people who got gifts that weren't on their list considered them as less thoughtful and less personal.
How can we create a gift-giving plan that is as emotional as we desire? Humans love to feel connected. And one way we do that is by sharing interests with others. So if you want to learn how to give better gifts, put yourself in the recipient's shoes and try to think of something you both share. Maybe it's the love for a sport, drinking wine, or some other hobby. And because you picked something you share, they will feel more connected to you and appreciate your gift more.
A. So how do we get less terrible?
B. Surprise is overrated-we're happier to get what we ask for.
C. So what's the most practical gift you can give that people might actually be grateful for?
D. The long-term pleasure of the receiver may not be observed and therefore is discounted.
E. Once you've found a shared interest, go and find a useful gift related to this interest.
F. What recipients care about is how much value they're going to get from the gift over a longer time period.
G. Research has shown that givers are consumed by the moment of unwrapping a gift even more than the gift itself.
