When you are buying a gift for someone, you often check out many stores and gift ideas before settling on something that you think the receiver may like.
Sometimes you get it wrong and sometimes you’ll get it right. But the best way to make your gift count is to get that same gift for yourself.
Researchers from at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Toronto Scarborough show that the gift recipient is happier with his gift when the giver has got the same present.
For this study, hundreds of participants rated how likable, thoughtful and considerate they would find each of a long list of gifts or how likable, thoughtful and considerate they would find gifts with a card attached which read “, “I hope you like the gift. I got myself the same one too!”
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The scores went up for gifts like staplers, wool socks, umbrellas and headphones, that were attached with the card.
The researchers call this phenomenon “companionizing.”
The receiver likes the gift better because it is shared with the giver, making them feel closer to the giver.
Although the researchers were inspired by things like friendship bracelets, where the same thing is shared by two people, this experiment shows that the giver and the receiver do not have to be close friends or relatives for “companionization” to work.
This concept is particularly helpful when you are trying to buy a gift for someone you don’t know well, as lack of familiarity makes it harder to find the right gift.
While the depth of relationship makes no difference, it was important that the giver bought the same thing for themselves at the time of gifting that object to the receiver.
“Companionizing” does not work if the receiver merely states that they have heard that the object is good-perhaps through reviews, nor does it work if the giver has already acquired the object a few months ago.
The link between similarity and liking explains that the more similar you are to someone the more you like them and so if you receive a gift which someone has bought for themselves, you feel more like them and therefore you like their gift more.
If you’re stuck for a gift and don’t know what to get them, pick something you like and get it for them and let them know about it. This will make the gift more special and chances are the receiver will like the gift and will feel “companionized” at the same time.
Source: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
