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Why Holiday Gifts Receive More Ughs Than Oohs
Authored by Cass Sunstein, originally posted at Bloomberg View,
Behavioral economists study human errors. People don’t always make the best choices for themselves, so there’s good reason to doubt whether they will always make the best choices for others.
If you’ve ever received a useless gadget, a horrendous tie or some kind of bowl, you’ll know that when people buy Christmas presents, they can blunder badly. Chances are pretty good that whatever you end up getting people this year, and however hard you try, some of your friends and family members aren’t going to think that the gift is worth what you paid for it.
University of Minnesota economist Joel Waldfogel, author of “Scroogenomics,” finds that Americans spend about $65 billion on winter holiday presents every year -- and that many of those billions are simply wasted, because a lot of people don’t much like what they get. Typically the value of a gift, to the recipient, is about 20 percent lower than its cost. He describes the holiday season as “an orgy of value destruction.”
Mis-giving is a big problem for givers as well as recipients. In a large survey, the average respondent was found to give 23 presents every holiday season. Gift-giving can also take an economic toll. Personal debts tend to jump after December. That isn’t ideal, especially in hard economic times and if recipients aren’t thrilled with what they get.
Egocentric Bias
Here are some tips for gift-givers, building on six behavioral findings that bear directly on holiday-season mis-giving. They might help you get through December a little better.
-- Egocentric bias: If you are like most people, you have an exaggerated sense of how much other people are like you. You probably think their tastes and values are closer to yours than they actually are. Suppose you covet that new “Star Wars” limited-edition watch, or think your life would be immeasurably better with a fishing rod. Even if so, your spouse or your best friend might not much want those things. Beware of thinking that other people will like what you like.
-- Focusing illusion: When people focus on a product or an activity, or on a single feature of a situation, they tend to think that it matters a lot more than it does. For example, people in both California and Iowa have been found to think that people in California are happier than those in Iowa (which isn’t so). The reason for the mistake is that people focus on the most salient difference between California and Iowa, which is the weather, even though a warmer climate doesn’t much affect people’s happiness.
The same can be said about holiday gifts. People have a tendency to focus on an eye-catching object that produces an immediate “wow!” when it is given, but that goes promptly into the desk or the closet, never to emerge again. The solution? Give serious consideration to gifts that people will actually put to daily or at least weekly use.
-- Projection bias: When people are hungry, they tend to order a ton of food, even if they are not going to eat all or even most of it. People know, of course, that their tastes will change over time, but they project their current emotional state into the future and thus underestimate the magnitude of the change.
On frigid days, people buy clothing that is needed in cold weather, such as parkas and winter coats. That’s fine as far as it goes, but they sometimes buy more than they need. The return rate is unusually high for cold-weather products bought in low temperatures. For gift-givers, the lesson is clear: Don’t be unduly influenced by how you feel on the day that you happen to be shopping.
Unrealistic View
-- Optimistic bias: Human beings tend to be unrealistically optimistic. Most people think they are better than the average driver and less likely to be involved in a serious accident. When people give presents, unrealistic optimism goes off the charts. We are often amazed that people don’t love what we’ve selected. Please don’t be. (And please consider avoiding the optimistic exclamation, “You’re going to love it!”)
-- Cumulative-cost neglect: People often borrow too much because they neglect the cumulative costs of individual expenditures. If you use your credit card to purchase 20 sensible gifts, you might be alarmed by the total expense. When gift-givers don’t keep at least a rough running tab, they may find that they have spent a lot more than they expected, or even can easily afford.
-- Spotlight effect: If you are like most people, you think that people are watching you far more carefully than they actually are. In one experiment, students were asked to go into a classroom wearing a shirt with a picture of Barry Manilow on it (which is pretty embarrassing). Those who wore the shirt greatly exaggerated the number of people who actually noticed the picture. Most people didn’t.
For the holiday season, many of us focus too intensely on how other people will react to what we get them, when it may be the mere existence of the present, rather than exactly what it is, that most matters. Unless you are dealing with someone who really cares about what you get them, you should worry a lot less (and maybe spend less, too).
A few years ago, my sister declared a family moratorium on Christmas presents for anyone over 15 years old. We all celebrated. Other people, including Waldfogel himself, have suggested a different solution. Instead of giving people more gadgets, ties or bowls, tell them that this year, you’re going to make a donation in their name to a charity of their choice. Can you think of a better way to show the spirit of the season?
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Got a trail cam bitchez
I got my wife a new iron for Christmas. She said "this is EXACTLY what I wanted!" and immediately put it to good use- bashed me over the head with it.
Do YOU know your woman that well? I think not.
The wife just got done with her annual "I hate it" rant.
As usual, I thoroughly documented that she had, in fact, asked for a spa day. This year I even captured a little video of her asking for a spa day, yet she still insists that I'm an insensitive brute who doesn't listen, no matter how many times she sees the video of her request.
Per usual, the purchase is cancelled, and the refund will be credited to my credit card.
Merry Christmas!
I got one of my bosses an enema bag once.
(notice the "one of" and past tense)
I once put a can of Alpo on my boss's desk.
(Same clarifiers)
Miffed;-)
Best of Holiday Wishes to you and Yours, Miffed.
Be well this coming year.
I never found any money for Christmas shopping.
Well, I once opened a large gift to find a brad nailer. Mr was beaming from ear to ear awaiting the expected response. I told him I was very disappointed and was expecting a finish nailer so he could have it. Somewhat deflated he took it from me. " Sometimes you aren't very fun when I want to watch a female meltdown. "
Miffed;-)
Dear Miffed,
Merry Christmas.
Carry on.
Cass Sunstein, Behavioral Specialist...
A government official whose sole position is to manipulate the masses. I detest people like this.
Not if it's the right kind of bowl!
nice :)
Liked the last paragraph. Good ideas
We have tried with some success saying, "Instead of buying a gift, give something you already have that another person likes or wants."
Once upon a time, people were happy to get a new pair of socks. Somewhere, someone is still happy for that.
OT, but still important:
https://www.youtube.com/
Sploogle is showing "The Interview" on the t00b. WHERE ARE THE FUCKING HACKERS, and why aren't they outraged?
The torturers are happy
I asked for socks and boxer briefs. Best gifts I got, and I'm thankful for them.
Wife got me long undies...just what I wanted, too.
Also, just before black friday(s), Big Lots put a pile of crap on a table at a penny each. Wife spent $1.34 picking up stuff with price tags in the $80.00 range. Christmas shopping was complete after that.
What's Sunstein's issue with bowls? Where else do people store all their tchotchkies?
Baskets, my friend, baskets (rustic country decor).
I will except any gift that comes in a caliber.
The banksters need to repay us.
Guillotine lube too.
I prefer Toz.s, although Kgs are welcome as well! :>D
I tell my wife what I want. She tells me what she wants. we are both happy with our gifts.
Ha!
The husband was determined to give me the yearly Christmas gift an asked what I wanted as I do not except gifts well for I am not into the commerciaized Christmas. This year is a 3/4 hp submersable well pump as a backup for our 17 year old pump. And not the junk from Lowes.
Grundfos?
Goulds?
Yes a Goulds with a 5 year warranty.
I gave precisely zero store-purchased gifts this year. I did, however, spend quite a few hours thoroughly detailing my father's car inside and out and giving it perfect wax job knowing he loves a clean car but is too old to do it himself. For my mom I spent a hell of a lot of time baking and prepping her favorite confections.
Both of these things last a while are are loved. A Margaritaville margarita machine will be in the basement gathering dust but the end of the day, however. Fuck the consumerism.
Around 1963, it must have been all the rage to have birthday parties and invite as many neighbors and fellow 5th graders as possible. It seemed almost weekly that me or my brother got dragged off to some birthday party whether we liked the kid or not.
One of the popular TV shows back then was a ho-hum western called "Cheyenne". Warner Brothers marketed a kids board game called Cheyenne which nobody thought had anything to do with the TV show at all. They sat in the stores until one day the local department store had them on sale for less than half price.
A lot of parents started to get burned out on birthday parties and started looking for ways to cut costs. One way was to buy several Cheyenne games to hand out as gifts. The very first birthday party I went to after the sale on Cheyenne games, the kid got presents from 14 kids. 9 of them were Cheyenne games. Birthday parties entered a weird phase where Cheyenne games were exchanged at an increasing rate until re-gifting sent it critical. At his huge graduation party, All-State Quarterback Lenny Urbanski got 47 Cheyenne games, which probably accounted for every Cheyenne game in the County. Summer break put an end to Birthday parties for the most part and nobody ever mentioned the subject again in the fall.
Yea saw a lady in Sprawl Mart with one of those soda stream machines in her buggy and I thought the exact same thing.
Really, ZH posts the traitor Cass Sunstein on Christmas?
Former Chicago and Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, who in 2009 was appointed by President Barack Obama to direct an important executive branch office, had in 2008 co-authored an article containing a plan for the government to prevent the spread of anti-government "conspiracy theories." Arguing that such theories are believed only by groups suffering from "informational isolation," he advocated the use of anonymous government agents to engage in "cognitive infiltration" of these groups in order to introduce "cognitive diversity," with the aim of breaking them up.
Noting that Sunstein's proposal has evoked condemnations from across the political spectrum--not least because it, being similar to the FBI's COINTELPRO of the 1960s, would be illegal--David Ray Griffin focuses on the fact that Sunstein's primary target is the conspiracy theory advocated by the 9/11 Truth Movement. Examining Sunstein's charge that this theory is both "harmful" and "demonstrably false," Griffin uses both satire and overwhelming evidence to show that this twofold charge applies instead to what Sunstein calls "the true conspiracy theory" about 9/11-namely, the "theory that Al-Qaeda was responsible for 9/11."
http://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Infiltration-Appointees-Undermine-Conspi...
We Holiday Tyler'ed some folks.
Seriously, it's damned odd around here on the weekends and over holidays.
My gift is that i get to be the first on this thread to suggest that sunstein fuck himself sideways with a hammer.
<-- claw
<-- ball pein
Texas framer.
24oz waffleheaded framer...
DaddyO
Jesus, on giving Christmas presents:
One of my departed father's great stories:
One Christmas at the height of the depression my grandmother wouldn't tell my grandfather anything special she wanted for Christmas. "Times are too tough and money too tight. Get the kids something to play with that gets them out of the house. If you must get me something, get me a new mop; mine's shot."
So Grandpa bought her a new mop, and wrapped the handle and the head separately so there'd be two presents under the tree insead of one. I'm sure he also got her something nice, but that's not part of the story.
Little Marian, my dad's younger sister, saw the gaily-wrapped mop handle under the tree and began dancing around the house all excited, yelling "I'm getting my baton for Christmas!" It seems she wanted a baton so she could be the pretty girl marching at the head of the parade she'd seen that summer.
So that night Grandpa swiped Grandma's old mop and took it into his basement workshop. He cut the handle off and spent Christmas Eve sanding and painting that old mop handle into a beautiful parade baton. Grandpa was a very skilled craftsman and the result was stunning.
Marian was enchanted with her Christmas present, and spent hours marching around leading imaginary parades up and down the sidewalk. Her innocent Christmas joy cheered up the whole neighborhood.
Thank you for that story - a sincere hat tip to skill, imagination, innocence, thankfulness, and simple things.
Christmas is a year around event and happens either when you see a need and fill it or see an item and it has a person's name on it in your mind. I am just as apt to say Merry Christmas in July as I am in December
Otherwise my gifts are turning microbe filled, death laden, toilet like water into clean drinking water for those that really do need the help and can't afford to do it themselves
I just buy gifts for myself. It started as a family trend when my mom would buy gifts for herself because my dad sucked at giving gifts. It works a lot better this way. I get exactly what I want, I know I got something of great value, and I know nobody overpaid for it. There's no stress at all. Just hang out with family and don't worry about the gifts.
My wife asked for nothing and received exactly what she wanted.
My wife didn't ask for them, but she received two new rear tires for her Jeep! (and a brake-job)
That's a wonderful gift! Funny thing is our youngest is getting exactly that. She made a long spiel a few years ago that she could afford a new car. We were quite impressed she actually managed through creative ways ( no, not that) to come up with 18k in cash to pay for it in full. We tried to explain to her she could not afford the monthly expense having a new car but she was determined. After a year, she approached us crestfallen. Mom and dad, you were right. So she's getting two new tires , a gas card and 4 Oil change coupons this year. Makes for easy Christmas shopping.
Miffed;-)
First it's an article about chemtrails, now ZH is letting Cass Sunstein greet me for Christmas. WTF is happening to this once great site?
Finding a Cass Sunstein essay on ZH is like opening a Christmas package and finding poop.
I couldnt find anything to buy anyone this year.
All the sales upon sales (we had like 30 black fridays this year by my count) . . . we pretty much had around two black friday sales a month for the past 12 months . . . .from most major online stores. . . most people already own that they wanted as a wow gift. . . there was pretty much nothing you could buy someone to leave an expression short of just stuffing a box with 100's of dollars and wrapping it for the hell of it.
The idea of "sales" has been diluted, no one reads the signs anymore, some stores have "SALE" permenantly painted on their windows . . . that goes to say a lot, that there is no such thing as a "sale" price... more like "this is the price, and this shits for sale" . . . .
Everyone has everything, and there is nothing worthwhile to go out and buy someone, I spent about 150$ this year on gifts total.
-Coffee mugs with funny shit on them
-Hats
-1~2 games
-a few stuffed animals
-Alcohol
That about sums up Xmas shopping most of the $$ went to Alcohol.
May I suggest a New Years project? Find and become friends with someone with a still. It will change your life.
Miffed;-)
JC Penny's online 50% off spicerack with 5 years of spice refills, shipping overnight for Xmas eve delivery(free).
Rememberence/charm bracelet, old school (they have changed)
Nature ID Book, a mix of preowned DVDs.
I wore myself out this season with a brutal 3 hours of holiday shopping on the Celibration of Christ's Birth eve this year.
I admit to being a lame gift shopper but I am a man, most days, after all.
I am married to 23 years with a woman Jehovah's Witness.
I am Roman Catholic Apostolic.
She does not celebrate Christmas, New Year and Birthday.
Beautiful gifts economy.
Neither my relatives I give gifts, I say that my wife does not celebrate, I follow.
Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
I would say that you celebrate well.
It has nothing to do with the crap you put on a credit card.
Time for a joke.
Jehovas Witness knocks on a door one morning and tells the man he is a JW.
Man welcomes him in and asks what he would like to drink before they start, orange juice, lemonade coffee etc. The JW replies coffee.
He then asks him what he would to eat. Bacon and eggs, pan cakes etc.
The JW replies "pan cakes"
Everything is prepared and as the JW is eating the man asks him what he is going to talk about.
The JV swllows his bite and looking at the man replies, "I don't know."
The man asks him , "what do you mean by I DON'T KNOW?
The JW replies sheepishly, " I've never gotten this far before"
I got The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra DVD from DD. Excellent!
DW always gets a Shih Tzu calendar, and I always a a Dilbert.
timely gifts
Cumulative cost neglect...only one that gets me in trouble.
Otherwise pretty good and shopping/gifting usually.
Flat broke brother got $50.
Mom got an electric blanket (wanted) and new eye shadow (wanted).
Spouse got socks, underwear, a multi tool, guitar strings and picks, coffee, peanut butter pretzels, and wireless headphones to block out a guy in the next cubicle who constantly talks to himself.
Daughter probably got too much, but it was fun and I didn't overspend.
Tanzanite in white gold for her.
AR10 for me.
Happy new year!
For the last 10 years we have solved our Christmas shopping problems by buying presents only for those under 12. The rest of us give presents to one another by agreeing to donate to either a charity that we all agree to support or a family that is in need. No complaints and no returns to date.
This is the same Cass Sunstein who thinks companies should be forbidden to label foods as "GMO-free":
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/cass-r-sunstein-it-s-a-bad-idea-to-label-g...
He's the original Gruber. "No info for you, you worthless plebe; you would mis-use it."
ZH, what is up with posting an essay by this person? It would be one thing if he had written something so unusual and insightful that it in some way made up for his grotesque authoritarianism, but to publish some random bit of crap he wrote is really a mistake. You are giving him credibility.
Give people something they like to consume, such as wine for wine drinkers, cigars for cigar lovers, and coke and hookers for bankers.
All these things can hardly be considered Christmas gifts when they are being consumed 365 days of the year by these people.
Cass Sunstein and Joel Waldfogel are telling people about the value of Xmas gifts ? Oy Vey !
When was the last time Cass Sunstein gave any money to charity..? Neo Bolshevik prick.
Didn't read it. I am pre-coffee and too suceptible to brainwashing.