{"id":9272,"date":"2017-05-31T22:18:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T22:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=9272"},"modified":"2017-05-31T22:18:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T22:18:27","slug":"some-graduation-gifts-really-are-better-than-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/some-graduation-gifts-really-are-better-than-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Some graduation gifts really are better than others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Selin Malkoc<\/a>, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Graduation season is upon us, and for many graduates, it\u2019s a moment they\u2019ll want to remember for the rest of their lives. <\/p>\n

Yet families often wonder about the best way to mark this special occasion. The graduation gift, of course, is one way. But then comes the tough part: deciding on the gift.<\/p>\n

I recently faced a (somewhat) similar predicament. I\u2019d been promoted, and I wanted to treat myself. There was this ring I\u2019d been coveting; but after a quick Google search for the best way to treat yourself, the recommendations were unanimous: Splurge on an experience \u2013 a trip or a retreat. <\/p>\n

Just to make sure, I decided to approach my colleague Joseph Goodman<\/a>, who has researched the relationship between purchases and happiness. He, too, suggested that I take a vacation to add another experience to my store of memories. After all, he<\/a> and others<\/a> have convincingly shown that experiences \u2013 rather than material goods \u2013 are more closely related to happiness.<\/p>\n

Still, I had the nagging feeling that I\u2019d be better off buying the ring. Was I just trying to find an excuse to buy something I\u2019d wanted for a while? Or is there something else at play when we choose gifts, whether it\u2019s for ourselves or others?<\/p>\n

Keeping positive memories alive<\/h2>\n

I teamed up with Goodman and our graduate student Brittney Stephenson<\/a> to conduct a series of studies<\/a> to explore the best way to mark a special occasion like a graduation.<\/p>\n

In one, we asked participants to recall their most recent and significant graduation, and what they did to celebrate or commemorate the event (e.g., going on a trip, throwing a party or buying a ring for themselves). <\/p>\n

Then we asked everyone a series of questions tied to the positive emotions they associated with the graduation and the connection they felt toward it. <\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, we found that people felt less connected to the accomplishment as more years passed by. What was surprising, however, was that those who had bought something material to celebrate the event \u2013 a keychain, a ring or a laptop \u2013 felt a stronger connection to the accomplishment over time. These people were also more likely to feel pride or joy about graduating. <\/p>\n

Why might this be the case?<\/p>\n

Our research<\/a> suggests that the answer lies in understanding the relationship between memory and purchases. Memories of an ephemeral experience \u2013 whether it\u2019s a party or a vacation \u2013 fade over time, and likely lose their connection to the achievement. While we may think back to a vacation and reminisce about it, we probably won\u2019t connect it to the accomplishment itself. <\/p>\n

On the other hand, material purchases are more likely to be permanent. When we see them \u2013 and interact with them \u2013 we get transported back to the event. The positive emotions associated with the accomplishment become recharged. <\/p>\n

Emphasizing permanence<\/h2>\n

So do the consumers know that it\u2019s probably better to buy material goods to mark a special event like a graduation? Based on our research, the answer was unequivocal: no. <\/p>\n

In our studies, the participants were able to correctly intuit that memories and emotions fade over time. But they didn\u2019t realize that material objects would actually help them avert this. When we gave college seniors a choice between a material purchase and an experiential one to mark their graduation, 79 percent of them preferred the experience. <\/p>\n

It appears that consumers tend to choose experiences over material items because they\u2019re focused on the here and now, and they don\u2019t really take into account the long-term impact of the purchase. <\/p>\n

To test this idea, we ran two other studies. In one, we asked college students to look at ads for four potential purchases: two material (a ring and a watch) and two experiential (golf lessons and a cruise). For half of the participants we created a version that used taglines highlighting permanence (\u201ca diamond is forever,\u201d \u201cstand the test of time,\u201d \u201clearn a skill that will last a lifetime\u201d and \u201cmemories that last forever\u201d). The other half of participants saw ads with neutral taglines (\u201ca diamond is sincere,\u201d \u201clearn something new\u201d). <\/p>\n

After examining the ads, they made a choice between an experience and a material item to mark their graduation. As expected, we found that those who had looked at the ads emphasizing permanence were more likely to choose the material items to honor their graduation. It appears that gently nudging consumers to think about permanence is enough to for them to consider how they\u2019ll feel in the future when they make their purchase. <\/p>\n

\"TheSo if you or a loved one is graduating, try buying a memento \u2013 something that\u2019s likely to last. This doesn\u2019t mean that you should skip celebrations; rather, objects simply do a better job keeping the memory of the accomplishment alive.<\/p>\n

Selin Malkoc<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selin Malkoc, The Ohio State University Graduation season is upon us, and for many graduates, it\u2019s a moment they\u2019ll want to remember for the rest of their lives. Yet families often wonder about the best way to mark this special occasion. The graduation gift, of course, is one way. But then comes the tough part: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":9273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293],"tags":[245,1732,2454,2456,2455,209,16,2457],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9274,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272\/revisions\/9274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}