Christmas shopping – can be done online, but still stressful
Christmas shopping – can be done online, but still
stressful and difficult says UC
expert
November 25,
2012
As Christmas approaches, more people
are turning to online shopping when it comes to buying gifts
but not in all purchase areas, University of Canterbury (UC)
Associate Professor Paul Ballantine said
today.
Generic items like books and toys did not
really need to be experienced before they are bought. But he
said not all items were bought online to the same degree.
Some products often needed to be experienced or inspected
before they are bought.
``Specialist items like
jewellery still largely need to be bought from traditional
bricks-and-mortar stores. But generally online Christmas
shopping allows people to save time and money and it often
means they have a larger range of options to choose from,
while also not having to worry whether something they are
after is in stock or not. However, not all items are bought
online to the same degree.
``Christmas gift buying
often isn’t an enjoyable experience. Gift-giving is a
cause of stress for many people and is sometimes seen as
something which has to be endured. People often want to buy
a gift that is going to be liked, although they are
sometimes pessimistic about their chances of success in
doing this.
``With more and more people now
resorting to offloading their unwanted Christmas presents
through avenues such as TradeMe or re-gifting them on to
other people, we are bombarded by evidence that gift-giving
isn’t always that successful. This just increases the
feeling for some that they will get it
wrong.’’
With gift-giving often being so
difficult, many people used avoidance strategies or purchase
gifts that could be considered generic, such as a bottle of
wine or chocolates, he said. Gift shopping was also viewed
by many people as being work, rather than being a
pleasurable experience.
In part, this was due to
gift-giving being an expectation at this time of year, which
created a sense of social obligation, as the giving of gifts
was a requirement to participate in some social events. The
worst of these was secret Santas, where people often don’t
know who they’re buying for, but they just needed to buy
something.
``Money has long been a common gift and
vouchers have also become increasingly popular with time. It
allows a gift recipient to choose something they actually
want, although at the same time money and vouchers are
viewed by some as being an easy gift that didn’t require a
lot of thought on the part of the giver.
``Experiential gifts have also become increasingly
popular. So, rather than buying something physical, events
such as driving a racing car or hot air balloon rides, can
be considered unique experiences that someone wouldn’t
necessarily buy for themselves.
``Gifts can also
send the wrong message and can sometimes be damaging for a
relationship. Giving a vacuum cleaner or a new set of
saucepans to someone you love at Christmas, for example,
often isn’t going to be well received. Research has shown
that the feeling of being less similar to a partner after
receiving a bad gift leads to strong negative perceptions
about the future of the relationship itself.
``For
those people you are socially close to, gift buying
typically carries an expectation that the recipient of the
gift will feel as though the giver understands their tastes,
wants and preferences.
We also know that some people are
easier to buy gifts for than others.’’
Where
there was a sense of obligation for those people on the
fringes of our social networks, they often resorted to
buying gifts which could be considered token gifts. It
fulfilled an obligation, but often did little to recognise
the tastes or preferences of the person the gift was being
given to.
Professor Ballantine is UC’s Head of
Management and has carried out a considerable amount of
research in
retailing.
ENDS