Free Constrained from Self-Gifting Constraint

An important way in which consumer psychology research assists both marketers and shoppers is by exposing mistaken assumptions. For example, both sellers interested in targeting their advertising and buyers interested in peace of mind are likely to assume that financial strains cause people to lose benefits from buying gifts for themselves.
     Researchers at Cornell University, Indiana University, and Duke University verify that not just financial constraints but also perceived time and mental energy constraints reduce interest in self-gifting and that one reason is consumers’ belief that feeling constrained will necessarily stymie post-purchase enjoyment of the gift. The researchers also present evidence that this belief is mistaken. In actuality, the self-gift generally repairs mood.
     In their studies, the researchers defined self-gifting as a process of invoking a hedonic consumption experience, with the a priori intention of boosting one’s emotional well-being. The gift is the consumption, not the acquisition. Not the purchase of a bar of luxury soap in itself, but rather the use of the soap, which was intended before purchase as providing a way to improve the purchaser’s mood. It’s relevant that acquisition of the gifts described in the studies—headphones, biscotti, soap—would be unlikely to substantially increase the user’s financial, time, or mental energy stresses. In my opinion, the results might well be different for self-gifts which are extraordinarily expensive or require extensive time commitments to master.
     For the type of modest gifts used as examples in the studies, the researchers recommend to marketers techniques for combatting consumers’ mistaken belief that feeling constrained will necessarily stymie post-purchase enjoyment of a self-gift: Avoid featuring resource constraints such as a one-day sale or a short-term rental. Position the potential self-gifts as distinctively beneficial for people feeling time-crunched or money-crunched and as assisting with self-care.
     A related finding is that retail therapy—the intentional use of shopping by people who are feeling sad in order to improve their mood—works. Researchers at University of Michigan say the mechanism of action is restoration of control. Sadness generally arises from perceptions that situations are controlling one’s life. Deciding to go shopping and then doing it verifies to the person that they can assert themselves in the face of difficult situations. Having salespeople strive to please us, making choices among alternatives, and spending money are all signals to ourselves of being in control. Retail therapy works best in sales situations with those characteristics.

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Present Self-Gifting 

Shorten the Term of Retail Therapy 

Account for Financially Limited Mindsets