SMU marketing professor’s study finds wrapping means a lot to gift recipients

by PegNews wire

Cutting-edge research proves that people DO judge books by their covers - if you substitute "gifts" for books and "wrapping" for covers.

Southern Methodist University marketing professor Daniel Howard thinks his radical findings concerning presents and gift-giving are "... as relevant today, if not more so" than they were when he conducted the study (using 60 SMU students as gift-getting guinea pigs) back in 1992.

"YAY! Beef jerky!"

The study was suggested to Howard by a conversation between a customer and a salesperson that he overheard while shopping. The gist of it was that the salesperson encouraged the buyer to have his present wrapped, while the buyer (probably a guy trying to get home before a playoff game) told the salesperson "nah, it doesn't matter."

For the study, three groups of presents were given to students: the first group received packages without any sort of wrapping, the second had their gifts wrapped in plain brown paper, and the third got the same present all dolled up in gift wrap and bows.

You guessed it: the fancily-wrapped present was received most appreciatively, seeming to have put the recipients in a "happy" mood. Next most enjoyed was the gift wrapped up in plain brown paper, while the unwrapped gift was pretty much treated as a buttwipe (paraphrasing here).

Which means, to my thinking, that one could save a slew of money by just tarting up several packages of beef jerky for most folks on one's list, and maybe packs of seaweed for goofball vegetarians.

posted by JM

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Scott Doyle, says:

Dammit, I thought this was going to be a study about wrapping versus gift bags. Any word on that?

I'm all about presentation, but not the effort necessary to wrap. =p Unless it has to be wrapped, I typically reuse gift bags as much as possible.

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12 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

ScoDo - I think it was that "human touch" thing.

You can relax. There's also an expectation you're not subject to without opposable thumbs.

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12 months ago
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Travis Bush, says:

Newspaper is good for something you know.

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12 months ago
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Pavel Lishin, says:

I almost always wrap my presents. The surprise is half of the fun of receiving another pack of socks, or a boring tie.

But, knowing what I know, I'll make sure to not wrap Doyle's present. They get all whiny when they don't have air holes, anyway.

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12 months ago
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Christin Richard, says:

I like to use plain brown wrapping paper decorated with drawings of whatever impression or theme happens to be on my mind, which is usually "the future". It has almost become a tradition in our family that gifts from me will be wrapped in some brown undertone, customized, one-of-a-kind wrapping paper.