Giving Gifts of Clothing: Risk Perceptions of Husbands and Wives

Abstract

This research examines the importance husbands and wives place on various types of perceived risk when giving a sweatshirt or pants to spouse, sons, and daughters. Seventeen affective items representing perceived risks were repeated for the two garments and three recipients. A total of 103 husband-wife couples from a midwestern city responded independently to questionnaires by using an 11-point certainty scale. Data were analyzed by correlation, plotting, and analyses of variance. Wives purchased more clothing gifts than husbands did. Wives accorded importance to risks related to use of resources; husbands accorded importance to risks related to how recipients evaluate them. Givers thought that certain types of risk were important regardless of the child's gender; givers also thought that risks related to recipient's self-esteem, store image, and surprise were important when giving to females. Pants were more risky gifts than sweatshirts, but type of garment interacted with recipient and giver to reduce or amplify the importance of some risks. Further research is needed to clarify various types of perceived risk in gift giving. Marketing implications are suggested

Keywords

clothing gifts dyads risks

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