IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v103y2019icp142-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gift–image congruence and gift appreciation in romantic relationships: The roles of intimacy and relationship dependence

Author

Listed:
  • Luo, Biao
  • Fang, Wenpei
  • Shen, Jie
  • Cong, Xue Fei

Abstract

This research explores the effect of gift–image congruence on the recipient's gift appreciation, and the moderating effects of intimacy and the recipient's relationship dependence in romantic relationships. The results show that gift-recipient image congruence has a positive effect on the recipient's gift appreciation, while the effect of gift-giver image congruence on gift appreciation is insignificant or even negative in Chinese and non-Chinese samples. For both Chinese and non-Chinese samples, the intimacy and relationship dependence of recipients attenuate the negative effect of gift-giver image congruence and the positive effect of gift-recipient image congruence on the recipient's gift appreciation. This research advances our understanding of what gifts and under what circumstances gifts are appreciated by recipients. Theoretical contributions to the gift-giving literature and practical implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Luo, Biao & Fang, Wenpei & Shen, Jie & Cong, Xue Fei, 2019. "Gift–image congruence and gift appreciation in romantic relationships: The roles of intimacy and relationship dependence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 142-152.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:103:y:2019:i:c:p:142-152
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.06.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296319303789
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.06.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Belk, Russell W, 1976. "It's the Thought That Counts: A Signed Digraph Analysis of Gift-Giving," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 3(3), pages 155-162, December.
    2. Belk, Russell W & Coon, Gregory S, 1993. "Gift Giving as Agapic Love: An Alternative to the Exchange Paradigm Based on Dating Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(3), pages 393-417, December.
    3. Baumann, Chris & Hamin, Hamin, 2014. "Premium generic brand (PGB) choice vis-Ã -vis generic and national brands: A scenario comparison for self-use, family consumption and gift giving in a food versus non-food and cross-cultural context," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 492-501.
    4. Sherry, John F, Jr, 1983. "Gift Giving in Anthropological Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(2), pages 157-168, September.
    5. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
    6. Malhotra, Naresh K., 1988. "Self concept and product choice: An integrated perspective," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, March.
    7. Sherry, John Jr. & McGrath, Mary Ann & Levy, Sidney J., 1993. "The dark side of the gift," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 225-244, November.
    8. Joy, Annamma, 2001. "Gift Giving in Hong Kong and the Continuum of Social Ties," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 239-256, September.
    9. Morgan K. Ward & Susan M. Broniarczyk, 2011. "It's Not Me, It's You: How Gift Giving Creates Giver Identity Threat as a Function of Social Closeness," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(1), pages 164-181.
    10. Sirgy, M Joseph, 1982. "Self-Concept in Consumer Behavior: A Critical Review," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(3), pages 287-300, December.
    11. Holbrook, Morris B & Hirschman, Elizabeth C, 1982. "The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(2), pages 132-140, September.
    12. Ernest Baskin & Cheryl J. Wakslak & Yaacov Trope & Nathan Novemsky, 2014. "Why Feasibility Matters More to Gift Receivers than to Givers: A Construal-Level Approach to Gift Giving," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(1), pages 169-182.
    13. Lowrey, Tina M & Otnes, Cele C & Ruth, Julie A, 2004. "Social Influences on Dyadic Giving over Time: A Taxonomy from the Giver's Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 547-558, March.
    14. Hosany, Sameer & Martin, Drew, 2012. "Self-image congruence in consumer behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 685-691.
    15. Ruth, Julie A & Otnes, Cele C & Brunel, Frederic F, 1999. "Gift Receipt and the Reformulation of Interpersonal Relationships," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(4), pages 385-402, March.
    16. Sirgy, M. Joseph & Grewal, Dhruv & Mangleburg, Tamara, 2000. "Retail Environment, Self-Congruity, and Retail Patronage: An Integrative Model and a Research Agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 127-138, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Givi, Julian, 2020. "(Not) giving the same old song and dance: Givers’ misguided concerns about thoughtfulness and boringness keep them from repeating gifts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 87-98.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ertimur, Burçak & Muñoz, Caroline & Hutton, James G., 2015. "Regifting: A multi-perspective processual overview," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1997-2004.
    2. Vanhamme, Joëlle & de Bont, Cees J.P.M., 2008. "“Surprise Gift” Purchases: Customer Insights from the Small Electrical Appliances Market," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 354-369.
    3. Cheng, Andong & Meloy, Margaret G. & Polman, Evan, 2021. "Picking Gifts for Picky People," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 191-206.
    4. Guido, Gianluigi & Pino, Giovanni & Peluso, Alessandro M., 2016. "Assessing individuals' re-gifting motivations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5956-5963.
    5. Nguyen, Hieu P. & Munch, James M., 2011. "Romantic gift giving as chore or pleasure: The effects of attachment orientations on gift giving perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 113-118, February.
    6. Bernard Cova & Eric Remy, 2014. "Consumption Seen From the Gift: State of the Art and Prospective [La consommation en clé de don : état des lieux rétrospectif et prospectif]," Post-Print hal-01581986, HAL.
    7. Schiffman, Leon G. & Cohn, Deborah Y., 2009. "Are they playing by the same rules? A consumer gifting classification of marital dyads," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 1054-1062, November.
    8. Carolina Rezende Pereira & Suzane Strehlau, 2016. "Social Bond Development Through Continuous Indebtedness," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 241-259, June.
    9. de Hooge, Ilona E., 2014. "Predicting consumer behavior with two emotion appraisal dimensions: Emotion valence and agency in gift giving," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 380-394.
    10. Ye Yang & Angela Paladino, 2015. "The case of wine: understanding Chinese gift-giving behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 335-361, September.
    11. Cavanaugh, Lisa A. & Gino, Francesca & Fitzsimons, Gavan J., 2015. "When doing good is bad in gift giving: Mis-predicting appreciation of socially responsible gifts," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 178-189.
    12. Branco-Illodo, Ines & Heath, Teresa, 2020. "The ‘perfect gift’ and the ‘best gift ever’: An integrative framework for truly special gifts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 418-424.
    13. Bénédicte de Peyrelongue & Olivier Masclef & Valérie Guillard, 2017. "The Need to Give Gratuitously: A Relevant Concept Anchored in Catholic Social Teaching to Envision the Consumer Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 739-755, November.
    14. Jacob, Isaac & Khanna, Monica & Rai, Krupa A., 2020. "Attribution analysis of luxury brands: An investigation into consumer-brand congruence through conspicuous consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 597-607.
    15. Roggeveen, Anne L. & Grewal, Dhruv & Karsberg, John & Noble, Stephanie M. & Nordfält, Jens & Patrick, Vanessa M. & Schweiger, Elisa & Soysal, Gonca & Dillard, Annemarie & Cooper, Nora & Olson, Richard, 2021. "Forging meaningful consumer-brand relationships through creative merchandise offerings and innovative merchandising strategies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 81-98.
    16. Gao, Hailian & Huang, Songshan (Sam) & Brown, Graham, 2017. "The influence of face on Chinese tourists’ gift purchase behaviour: The moderating role of the gift giver–receiver relationship," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 97-106.
    17. Gurzki, Hannes & Woisetschläger, David M., 2017. "Mapping the luxury research landscape: A bibliometric citation analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 147-166.
    18. Vanhamme, J. & de Bont, C.J.P.M., 2005. "“Surprise Gift” Purchases of Small Electric Appliances: A Pilot Study," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-081-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    19. Givi, Julian, 2021. "When a gift exchange isn’t an exchange: Why gift givers underestimate how uncomfortable recipients feel receiving a gift without reciprocating," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 393-405.
    20. Gonzalez-Jimenez, Hector & Fastoso, Fernando & Fukukawa, Kyoko, 2019. "How independence and interdependence moderate the self-congruity effect on brand attitude: A study of east and west," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 293-300.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:103:y:2019:i:c:p:142-152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.