Many people regret not preparing gifts on Christmas morning. In such cases, it is better to prepare the gifts, even if it is late, rather than saying they will give better gifts next year. Research findings suggest that it is beneficial to give gifts even after Christmas.
Researchers at the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, published findings showing that giving gifts late does not significantly impact the recipient. This research was published in the international journal Journal of Consumer Psychology on Dec. 9.
The research team analyzed the impact of giving gifts late on human relationships through experiments, focusing on special occasions like Christmas. Participants were presented with scenarios where they either received a tub of ice cream on time or two weeks late as a birthday gift, and were asked to assess the potential effects of the late gift on their relationships.
Those who thought they gave gifts late believed it would negatively affect their relationships. However, recipients tended to take it less seriously. Notably, personalized gifts, even if late, were likely to have a positive impact on relationships. For instance, participants preferred a hand-decorated basket over a pre-prepared gift basket.
Corey Haltman, a researcher at the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, said, "Giving a gift late is much better than not giving one at all; a gift holds significance in itself, so the most important thing is to give a gift."
Of course, gifts that are too late were an exception. When evaluating the impact of scenarios where birthday gifts arrive 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months late, it was found that the negative impact on relationships increased with time. Participants indicated that if a gift was more than two months late, both the giver and the recipient were likely to feel a negative impact on their relationship. However, this was still much better than not giving a gift at all.
References
Journal of Consumer Psychology (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1446