You designed that yourself for me? Vicarious pride in customized gift exchange

Marta Pizzetti (marta.pizzetti@gmail.com), Diletta Acuti, Isabella Soscia and Michael Gibbert
Additional contact information
Marta Pizzetti: EM - EMLyon Business School
Diletta Acuti: University of Bath [Bath]
Isabella Soscia: SKEMA Business School - SKEMA Business School
Michael Gibbert: USI - Università della Svizzera italiana = University of Italian Switzerland

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Abstract: In four studies, we found that receiving a customized gift leads recipients to appreciate the gift more highly because of vicarious feelings of pride. This vicarious pride is the same feeling that the customizer experiences after having self-customized a product. In the first two experiments with real-life pairs of friends, vicarious pride was documented among recipients of customized gifts. The findings show that the relationship between customization and gift appreciation is mediated by vicarious pride. Study 3 and Study 4 replicate the results of the first series of experiments, and reveal the role of vicarious pride in enhancing state self-esteem and, in turn, gift appreciation. Study 4 also tests the effect of a relational variable (i.e., relationship anxiety) on this relationship. Specifically, relationship anxiety affects vicarious pride, and then consequently state self-esteem and gift appreciation, which are only enhanced by customization when the relationship is not anxious. As a practical implication, this research emphasizes the importance of communicating gift customization to gift recipients to enhance their gift experience and appreciation.

Keywords: customization; gift; pride; state self-esteem; vicarious experiences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04637410v1
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Published in Psychology and Marketing, 2024, 41 (10), 2170-2180 p. ⟨10.1002/mar.22034⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04637410

DOI: 10.1002/mar.22034

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