Scenario A
Mark is celebrating a milestone in his career—his five year work anniversary. He’s about to head off to celebrate with you and his other coworkers. You’re in the office with Mark when he finds an envelope on his desk. It’s from his manager. Mark opens it. It’s a hand-written note and a $350 gift certificate to his favorite upscale restaurant.
Or…
Scenario B
Mark is celebrating a milestone in his career—his five year work anniversary. He’s about to head off to celebrate with you and his other coworkers. You’re in the office with Mark when he finds an package on his desk. It’s from his manager. Mark opens it. It’s an assortment of company-branded office supplies (letter opener, pen, faux-leather side-bag, etc.) as well as a collection of herbal teas. You know he likes coffee.
Showing appreciation can be risky. Gift giving is powerful because it is based on relationship and sets into motion an exchange between the two parties, influencing one person to reciprocate. Here’s why:
Scenario A: The gift experience
A good gift creates feelings of warmth and good-will because the giver proves how much they know the recipient, like Mark, by offering him something he values.
A gift is something excessive, meaning that it is more than what the recipient has earned (if Mark felt he earned what is given, then that is a straight transaction and his feelings of reciprocity will dissipate). The result of reciprocity in a good gift is that Mark, in subtle ways, feels more favorable to his manager without a sense of being negatively influenced or coerced.
Mark’s relationship with his manager is strengthened, even before Mark goes to enjoy the meal. For Mark, this is a memorable moment that will add to his enjoyment of the item he was given.
Mark’s experience, which creates reciprocity and builds relationship, begins in full when he receives something that he values.
Scenario B: The “It’s the thought that counts” experience
Anticipation for an unopened item doesn’t create reciprocity, because the recipient doesn’t know whether they value what has been offered.
In the second story, Mark gets an offering that destabilizes his relationship with his manager (which is seldom the intention of people who offer gifts). The manager has proven that, although he has taken effort to select and procure a gift, he hasn’t taken the time to really know Mark.
What is frustrating about unwanted gifts is that they also indebt Mark to his manager. A bad offering still sets about the rule of reciprocity, but with the negative connotations of indebtedness and influence.
Good gifts establish relationship and favour. Bad ones establish indebtedness and influence, sacrificing relationship and favor.
Could giving be more gratifying?
Expressing appreciation can be prohibitively risky and costly. It takes time and effort to find and select a gift, even if the giver knows the recipient well.
Physical gift certificates (which are over a century old) and plastic cards helped make gifts more flexible, increasing a giver’s confidence about the utility of the offering to the recipient.
These sorts of gifts helped reduce the social costs associated with showing appreciation, especially in a professional and business context. Digital gift cards have made sending gifts less time consuming and more convenient for purchasers.
But, even with the growth of digital gift, there are problems with the century old model:
- Wasted money: Recipients forget they have gift certificates, and often misplace or lose them. Depending on the value and type of card, 10%-20% of gift cards are wasted each year.
- No insight: Givers never know if their gesture was appreciated or if it was forgotten. Knowledge that a recipient enjoyed a gift would help givers know that they’ve chosen well.
- No choice: Because the money’s already been spent, gift recipients don’t have a socially acceptable way to decline or redirect gift cards.
These issues persist because gift card and gift certificate providers are in the business of selling gift cards or using gift cards as an additional sales channel. Both focus on marketing and selling to the gift purchaser. Once a sale is made, there is little incentive to provide value to the gift recipient. The gift recipient is not treated as a customer.
Wrapping up
There is still a gap between the creating a gift experience and the options people have to show appreciation.
Kiind exists to serve the gift experience—the relationship event between the giver and the receiver. We uniquely focus our efforts on making gifting gratifying and convenient for both these parties.
The gift experience is powerful. We are making it great with zero-waste gift campaigns, gift notifications and campaign insights, and increased recipient choice.
I can’t wait to show you what we’ve been building and what’s up next.
Thank you
