Hoping to get it right: the role of variety-seeking in the context of gift giving

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how the context of gift-giving, as opposed to self-purchasing, influences consumers’ variety-seeking behavior. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducted six scenario-based experiments to test our hypotheses. Studies 1a–1c examined the main effect of gift-giving on variety-seeking behavior across different occasions and product types. Study 2 investigated the mediating role of preference uncertainty. Studies 3a and 3b explored the boundary conditions of popularity cues and dissimilarity focus, respectively. Findings This paper finds that gift-givers, compared with self-purchasers, are more likely to engage in variety-seeking behavior. This positive effect is driven by the heightened preference uncertainty inherent in the gift-giving context. Moreover, popularity cues weaken the impact of gift-giving on variety-seeking, whereas a focus on dissimilarity strengthens it. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted among Chinese participants using scenario-based experiments, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Cross-cultural and field studies are recommended to further validate and extend the results. Practical implications The findings of this study suggest that companies targeting gift-givers could benefit from offering a wider variety of products. For firms that already provide diverse gift options, the authors recommend emphasizing the uncertainties that gift-givers experience during the selection process. Conversely, for companies unable to offer a wide range of gift options, highlighting popularity cues may serve as an effective strategy. Originality/value Although variety-seeking has attracted considerable attention in the context of self-purchasing and has been identified as a coping strategy for preference uncertainty, whether gift-giving – a context often characterized by heightened uncertainty – leads to increased variety-seeking remains relatively unexplored. Given that gift-givers often differ from self-purchasers in their decision-making processes, it is crucial to address this gap. This research aims to fill this void.