What’s In a Present? The Economics of Gift Giving

As scary as it sounds, we’re rapidly heading towards Christmas! The holidays can be an exciting time, they’re full of food, friends, family and fun. But they can also be crammed with spending and shopping. One of our biggest expenses, in time and money, is the Christmas present!

On this episode of Consume This we’re unwrapping the psychology and economics behind our giving. Plus, New Zealand's ‘unofficial Christmas historian’ Ali Clarke delves into why we give gifts at Christmas at all. Paul Harrison – a consumer behavior specialist – explains what our choice of gift says about our relationship, and why you might be better off taking a step back from the marketing. That’s something pod host Jon Duffy discovers first hand when a secret Santa gift gone wrong provokes serious ire from co-host Sophie Richardson. But why is Sophie so angry? It’s all because of a lack of gift giving reciprocity. As Ananish Chaudhuri, professor of behavioral economics at Auckland university explains – that’s more important that you might think...

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