The effect of gift suitability and environment on gift satisfaction, social relationship and the desire for reciprocation the gift

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature by examining the concept of gifting which is generally considered culturally in consumer behavior from a social-psychological perspective. A scenario based experimental study was conducted to determine how the relationship between the gift recipient and the person who gives the gift changed after the appropriate and inappropriate gift. In addition, in the room where the gift was given, the difference was obtained by comparing conditions such as, the place where the gift recipient was alone, each person that he loved and disliked, the people who he loved and disliked.In the thesis, the suitability of the gift and the environment that given the gift studied in terms of social relationship, satisfaction with the gift and the desire to respond to the gift.For this study, face to face surveys of 459 students of the age range 18-26 were applied in a private university. The data obtained from these students were uploaded to SPSS program. Firstly reliability test was applied for the questionnaire questions. Then; independent sample t-test and paired sample test were applied to the data. A striking finding as a result of the analyzes revealed that this gift had a negative effect on the social relationship if the gift was not found appropriate. Afterwards, necessary regression analyzes were performed on the data and it was understood that the presence of other people in the gift-giving environment had a negative effect on the existing social relationship. Finally, gender was taken as an independent variable. It was found that the difference between the genders was low in terms of the suitability of the gift and the environment in which the gift was given, the satisfaction and social relationship of the gift. Yet, there was a significant difference in the desire to respond to the gift. In the light of these results, some recommendations were given to researchers and practitioners who were thought to be useful for this information and suggestions which were made on issues such as the price of the gift, the contradictions of similarities between the gifts and the expectations of the recipients, and the place and importance of the gift in Turkish culture, for future studies.