Gift-Giving Norms
Gifts follow cultural rules — when, what, how much, to whom — and create obligations to receive and reciprocate; gift economies bind people in enduring debt, and recipients value gifts well below what givers paid.
An everyday example
Matching the value of last year's gift to avoid insult; a corporate gift that quietly obliges.
What it can cost you
Spending to satisfy norms rather than the recipient; accepting gifts that are contracts.
Warning signs
- I am matching a price, not choosing a gift.
- The gift arrived before the ask.
One thing to do
Give what the recipient values, within norms you have chosen to honour; treat business gifts as what they are and decouple them from decisions.
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