Choosing a gift can be a mind-boggling exercise. Before buying anything we come across of many ‘if & buts’ like if one will like it or not, can use it or not and many more. It has become necessary to have an overall idea about the receiver of the gift. But suppose you don’t know the person you are gifting, maybe you are meeting first time then it’s really tough to decide or settle down to any particular thing to gift. There have been various studies on how to choose gift for someone. Let’s us know about them for easing the process of choosing gifts.
Reason behind choosing a gift:
Gifting is a process of exchange of token of feelings. Before deciding what to gift we should be clear about the feelings with which web are going to present as well as the gift should represent that tone or thought. That can be a token for love ,likeness, friendship, victory, regret, or mere obligations. It strengthens the relationship between two person or family or groups. Eases the differences if any, brings smiles on faces, releases tension , makes feel cared and attended.
Why do we gift?
There are varied reasons for gifting something to someone. It can be to mark any important happening in our lives, to establish and sustain any kind of personal or professional relationship, to mix or dissolve into the customs of society or it can be a mere media of economic exchange.
Factors that influence gift giving process if you know the person :
- Emotions – The most important and foremost is to know the motive or feelings behind the thought of presenting a gift to someone. It’s necessary that the gift should convey our message. It should depict the intention with which it has been presented, can be a token of gratitude, love, triumph or respect.
- Recipient – Knowledge of our target is another prominent factor. Many aspects of the recipient has to be taken into consideration before buying a gift for someone. Usual factors are:-
- Age- Small but important it is to keep in consideration about the age of the recipient. Certain gifts are age bounded but quite convenient gift for the targeted person. So it’s becomes easier to choose something if you know his/her age. For example for a child of 5 years gift would be different from a 15 years boy.
- Gender-Not all but some gifts are gender biased. Sometimes our gifts depends whether it’s been gifted to a male or female. Because it affects in selections of certain stuffs for gifting like dress materials, shoes or daily accessories.
- Lifestyle and culture – People of different background adopt distinctive choices, beliefs, likes or priorities. Accordingly the taste of gift will also be affected. So one should be aware of those minute details to present a perfect gift. As an example if someone is God -fearing then an idol of Lord Ganesh would delight him more than a wall hanging or dinner set.
- Personality – Generally the gift should match to both of the donor’s and recipient’s personalities. To a high profile businessman can be adored with a multipurpose pen stand cum paperweight.
- Occasion – One of the obvious factors is the event on which account one has to gift. A gift for marriage would be different from that of a congratulations party. Valentine’s day gift would be more romantically different from a birthday gift.
- Environment – Gifting is somewhat influenced by the environment also in which the recipient or the occasion is. The interpretation and acceptance of the gifts changes from place to place. It depends as to where the gift is being presented like in a school or office.
- Convenience – Though not influential but it also affects while choosing gifts. Whether it’s portable, handy, easy to maintain or not.
- Budget- Last but not least budget is also influential in choosing a gift. With our priorities our will to spend on a gift also varies. So the price range can affect the gift selection procedure.
What if you don’t know your recipient:
Sometimes it happens that we are a situation where we are unaware of the person whom we are about to present a gift. Can be our father’s colleague’s daughter’s marriage or a party thrown by your recently moved neighbour, or birthday a new entrant in your class? More preferably people go with fancy stuffs that are suitable to go with the occasion but such gifts don’t register into the mind of the recipient. In this situation, some tricks can easily help one out to decide upon a better option than those stereotyped gifts. Some best and appropriate suggestions are:
- Visiting your newly moved neighbours for welcoming them can help in knowing them to gift them something really useful
- Just getting an overview of a person’s personality to go with an appropriate gift for that official meeting.
- Go for some gift cards with some sayings for the day or occasion. It’s convenient always.
For any occasions gifts can increase the essence of it if it’s perfect for the situation. It’s thus better to do a little digging about the person’s likeness, requirements and occasions’ demand. Researches show the relationship between two gift exchangers has five sub-divisions :
- Intergroup
- Intercategory
- Intragroup
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
Based on these classifications purchase of gifts diversifies. When it’s personal we give more attention to convey the motive rather than in a professional gift. Within the group’s the gifts are usually casual but if it comes to intra group it’s more formal. Whatever be the situation gifting is easier if one is aware of the facts and factors.
To gift is an art in itself. It brings hopes, surprises, expectations, trust, sense of belongingness for the person to whom its gifted. So it demands carefulness while purchasing gifts. Knowing all aspects gives confidence in gifting. Now go grab the opportunity to impress or express in the way you like it!
