An Examination of Emotional Information Management in Gift Giving and Receipt

Gift giving is prominent in marketplace exchanges and has robust emotional implications for both the giver and recipient. For example, prior to and during the selection of a gift, the giver endures positive and negative emotions, as he/she grapples with selecting the perfect gift, and ponders if the recipient will actually cherish the purchased item. During this dynamic exchange process, emotional recognition, management of emotions, emotional empathy, and anticipated elation are oft experienced by both the giver and recipient. However, research examining such emotions quantitatively in a gifting context is scant and models of these faculties in the gift‐giving milieu are nonexistent. To help fill this research fissure, four studies are developed; they, in general, investigate determinants of feelings linked with the gestation, prestation, and reformulation stages of the gift‐giving event. Specifically, Study 1 (giver's perspective) and Study 2 (receiver's perspective) reveal a mediation void in the models tested. Heeding these results, Study 3 (gift given) and Study 4 (gift received) introduce anticipated elation as a key factor between the aforementioned emotive factors and the emotional responses inherent in the gift‐giving stages, among others. Managerial implications and future research directions are offered.     

Moments of truth in gift exchanges: A critical incident analysis of communication indicators used to detect gift failure

This research examines how gift recipients communicate gift failure to givers, whether through paralinguistic indicators, direct verbal comments, and consumption (or not) of the gift. Critical incident reports identified specific communication indicators that signaled displeasure with the gift and measured the impact of these indicators on important exchange outcomes. Overall, failed gifts have a greater impact on future exchanges than on relationship quality. However, failure to appreciate the gift can have a significant negative effect on relationships. Gift failures between friends, co‐workers, and in‐laws are more susceptible to relationship harm than those involving close kin, like parents, spouses, and children. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predicting consumer behavior with two emotion appraisal dimensions: Emotion valence and agency in gift giving

Decades of emotion research have demonstrated the unique influences of many specific emotions on consumer behaviors. These countless numbers of emotion effects can make it difficult to understand the role of emotions in consumer behavior. The current research introduces a parsimonious framework that can predict the effects of emotions on the consumer behavior of gift giving with just two appraisal dimensions: valence and agency. A series of studies examining gift giving reveals that positive emotions exert positive effects on gift giving, independent of their agency. In contrast, agency does predict the effects of negative emotions on gift giving. Negative self-caused emotions increase gift giving, whereas negative other-caused emotions decrease gift giving. These findings seem to hold for inactive and active emotions, and for uncertain and certain emotions. Together, these findings make a unique theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding of emotions in gift giving. Moreover, it provides a pragmatic framework for both academics and practitioners.     

The impact of positive and negative emotions on loyalty intentions and their interactions with customer equity drivers

Customer equity drivers (CEDs) include value, brand, and relationship equity, which have a strong link with loyalty intentions. This study aims to examine the incremental effects of positive and negative emotions on loyalty intentions and to determine whether these emotions moderate the positive link between CEDs and loyalty intentions. We use customer data with 102 leading firms across eighteen services industries in the Netherlands. The results show that (1) positive and negative emotions have incremental effects on loyalty intentions, (2) positive emotions weaken the positive link (negative interaction), and (3) negative emotions strengthen the positive link, but only for brand and relationship equity (positive interaction). Thus, positive and negative emotions also explain loyalty intentions. However, managers should be cautious when combining CEDs with positive and negative emotions. We provide a strategic matrix to help managers arrive at effective combinations.     

Beyond good and bad: Challenging the suggested role of emotions in customer experience (CX) research

Our paper challenges several notions regarding emotion's role and their influence on the customer experience (hereafter CX). Based on our analysis, we develop the following five propositions to advance our understanding of emotions' role in customer experience research. First, we argue that positive and negative emotions can coexist during the consumption experience. Second, positive emotions do not automatically lead to positive consumption outcomes, and negative emotions may not necessarily generate negative results. Third, positive or negative emotions toward a company employee might not automatically transfer to the company as a whole. Fourth, customers are not apathetic victims of their emotions with no capability to control their emotional experiences. Our last proposition is that consumption emotions are not a purely intrapersonal phenomenon, but that the social context matters and influences the consumption experience. We propose a related future research agenda highlighting opportunities for scholars and managers alike.     

Gratitude,delight, or guilt: The role of consumers' emotions in predicting postconsumption behaviors

This study investigates the relationships among appraisals (goal congruence/incongruence and agency), consumption emotions (gratitude, happiness, guilt, anger, pride, and sadness), and post‐consumption behaviors (positive and negative word of mouth, repurchase intention, and complaint behavior). The findings demonstrate that these emotions predict different specific types of post‐consumption behaviors and that they are elicited by appraisals specified in the psychology literature. In particular, gratitude but not happiness, predicts repurchase intention and positive word of mouth. By contrast, guilt inhibits complaint behaviors and negative word of mouth. The implications of these findings for marketing practice are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Perceived quality, emotions, and behavioral intentions: Application of an extended Mehrabian-Russell model to restaurants

In order to address a lack of comprehensive evaluation of restaurant quality, this study extends Mehrabian and Russell's stimulus-organism-response framework by incorporating restaurant-specific stimuli and including restaurant-specific measures of emotion. Using structural equation modeling, this study shows that atmospherics and service function as stimuli that enhance positive emotions while product attributes, such as food quality, act to relieve negative emotional responses. Results also suggest that positive emotions mediate the relationship between atmospherics/services and future behavioral outcomes. The results are theoretically and practically meaningful because they address the relationships among three types of perceived quality (product, atmospherics, and service), customer emotions (positive/negative), and behavioral intentions in the restaurant consumption experience. Managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are also suggested.     

The moderating influence of ad framing for ad–self‐congruency effects

Prior research indicates that ad–self‐congruency effects are significant only when participants are not motivated to process ad messages, as when they are in a positive rather than negative affective state (Chang, 2002a). In line with this reasoning, it was expected that ad tactics such as ad framing that can evoke emotional responses would determine reliance on ad–self‐congruency for making judgments. As expected, when positive emotions were evoked by positive ad framing, participants formed brand evaluations based on ad–self‐congruency, generating more positive responses to self‐congruent ad messages than to self‐incongruent messages. In contrast, when negative emotions were elicited by negative ad framing, responses to self‐congruent ad messages and self‐incongruent messages were not significantly different. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Emotional prototypes,emotional memory usages,and customer satisfaction

In this study, we investigated the positive and negative emotion concepts in the prototype perspective and then tested them on customer satisfaction. By studying 612 customers in luxury restaurants, we found that two levels of customer emotions (i.e. positive and negative emotions) as a super-ordinate level, 4 positive emotions (i.e. contentment, happiness, love, and pride) and 5 negative emotions (i.e. anger, fear, sadness, shame, and disgust) as a basic level, and 49 specific emotions as a subordinate level are significantly related to customer satisfaction. We also examined the moderating role of emotional memory (EM) usage in the relationship between consumers’ emotions and their satisfaction. We found that product (food and beverage)-related EM strengthens and service-related EM usage weakens the relationship between customers’ negative emotions and their satisfaction. Interestingly, we found that positive and negative emotions are significantly related to customer satisfaction regardless of experience and store-related EM usage.     

Does santa have a great job? Gift shopping value and satisfaction

For good or bad, shopping and gifting are intertwined. This research looks at sources of gratification associated with shopping for gifts. More particularly, the roles played by general and specific shopping orientations in shaping gift shopping value and satisfaction are examined. Results from testing a theoretical model suggest that gift shopping orientations, such as agape, may dominate general shopping orientations, such as price consciousness. Also, the important role played by utilitarian shopping value is consistent with gift shopping more as a job than as a source of leisure. However, the results fall short of suggesting a negative relationship between gift shopping and hedonic shopping value. So gift shopping may be a job, but a job that is not so horrible after all. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Entrepreneurs' dispositional positive affect: The potential benefits – and potential costs – of being “up”

Dispositional positive affect (DPA) – the stable tendency to experience positive moods and emotions – has been found to be related to several beneficial outcomes (e.g., enhanced career success, development of high quality social relationships, improved personal health). Evidence on this issue is not entirely consistent, however, and high levels of dispositional positive affect have sometimes been found to also be associated with detrimental outcomes (e.g., reduced task performance, biased recall of information, increased impulsivity). A framework is proposed for integrating these seemingly inconsistent findings and applying the result to entrepreneurs. Briefly, this model suggests that there are discrete limits to the benefits conferred by DPA because at very high levels, processes that interfere with specific aspects of cognition, perception, motivation, and self-regulation, operate. The overall result is a curvilinear relationship between entrepreneurs' level of DPA and their performance of tasks closely related to new venture development and growth (e.g., opportunity recognition and evaluation, effective decision making). Factors that make entrepreneurs especially susceptible to negative effects of high levels of DPA are described, and theoretical and practical implications of the proposed model are discussed.     

Understanding Promotional Service Interactions through Social Exchange Theory of Affect

Dyadic commercial relations during service interactions are not possible without exchange of emotions between the interactional partners. The study theorizes social exchange theory of affect and explores triggers of emotions from customers and service agents that enable rapport during promotion of products. The study conceptualizes that service agents deliver overall authentic service delivery, which is a composite of authentic emotions and affective service delivery. These delivered emotions are reciprocated by the customers who are high on agreeableness. The study also validates the link between rapport, customer satisfaction, and future buying intentions of the customers. Data were collected through between subjects experimental design on 120 participants. The results were analyzed and structural model was developed using partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. Results indicate that customer employee rapport is best predicted when overall authentic service delivery and customer agreeableness mutually interacts. The study is limited to outbound promotional services and its validity for other kinds of services and inbound calls awaits exploration.     

“Never eat in that restaurant,I did!”: Exploring why people engage in negative word‐of‐mouth communication

What do consumers want to achieve when they engage in negative word‐of‐mouth communication (N‐WOM)? Two studies explore this question and reveal that consumers pursue specific goals when engaging in N‐WOM and that these goals systematically differ between the specific negative emotions that are experienced. For example, the results reveal that consumers who experience anger engage in N‐WOM to vent feelings or to take revenge. However, disappointed consumers engage in N‐WOM to warn others, and consumers who experience regret communicate with others to strengthen social bonds or to warn them. This reveals the functionality of specific emotions to N‐WOM, and how goals for N‐WOM are associated with these emotions. This demonstrates that rather than being uniform, the content and implications of N‐WOM are contingent on the specific emotions that consumers experience. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Considering the Role of Affect and Anticipated Emotions in the Formation of Consumer Loyalty Intentions

Ajzen and Sheikh ( 2013 ) recently challenge calls for adding explicit measures of emotions or affect as independent constructs into the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). This assertion has potentially significant theoretical and operational implications for marketers in terms of parsimony and insight. The specific questions of whether or not the addition of anticipated forms of emotions and/or hedonic attitudes to traditional attitude‐based models meaningfully contributes to understanding loyalty intention formation in a retail marketing setting are empirically assessed in this research. Results suggest that, consistent with the arguments of Perugini and Bagozzi ( 2001 ), the independent addition of anticipated emotions (AEs) to attitude models such as the TRA, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Model of Goal‐Directed Behavior (MGB) can be justified in terms of model fit with data, predictive validity (?R²), and efficacy in explanation. Interestingly, however, and consistent with the theoretical arguments underlying the TRA, the models receiving the most overall support appear to be models wherein Attitude_Overall mediates the contributions of positive and negative AEs on endogenous variables such as Desires and Intentions_Loyalty. While it remains up to the individual marketer which perspective to embrace given the observed gains reported herein, the present research also supports the notion that the addition of hedonic attitude forms and/or AEs can offer an overall net gain for many marketers. The managerial and research implications of the results are discussed.     

New insights into emotion valence and loyalty intentions in relational exchanges

This research examines how emotion valence and future intentions arising from relational exchanges with a service firm depend on a consumer's level of goal attainment and locus of causality (firm vs. self) of relational outcomes. Drawing on the theories of goal‐directed behavior and agency of causation, this study hypothesizes that levels of goal attainment and locus of causality influence the generation of positive emotions (gratitude), negative emotions (grudge and guilt), relational mediators (trust and commitment), and subsequent future intentions to remain loyal to the firm. Based on a controlled experiment with 284 subjects in a consumer‐determined relationship setting, the research finds that emotion valence and future loyalty intentions are contingent upon the fulfillment of relational objectives of individual consumers and the agency of causation for the outcome of the relational exchanges. In doing so, this study delineates the conditioning mechanism that directs how emotion valence influences behavioral intentions. The study contributes to the consumer behavior and services marketing literatures on consumption‐based emotions and has significant practice implications for relational behaviors.     

The Relationship between Exchange Rates and Interest Rate Differentials: A Wavelet Approach

This paper uses wavelet analysis to investigate the relationship between the spot exchange rate and interest rate differential for seven pairs of countries, with a small country, Sweden, included in each case. The key empirical results show that there tends to be a negative relationship between the spot exchange rate (domestic‐currency price of foreign currency) and nominal interest rate differential (approximately the domestic interest rate minus the foreign interest rate) at the shortest timescales, while a positive relationship is more frequently found at the longest timescales. This indicates that among models of exchange rate determination using the asset approach, the sticky‐price models are supported in the short run and flexible‐price models in the long run.     

Negative emotions of an entrepreneurial career: Self-employment and regulatory coping behaviors

Although we know a great deal about the relationship between self-employment and the experience of positive emotions such as passion, excitement, happiness, satisfaction, and flow, there is some research that suggests that the self-employed may be more susceptible than employees to negative emotions such as stress, fear of failure, loneliness, mental strain, and grief. We draw on the literature on role requirements to develop a model of career pursuit based on individuals' willingness and abilities to regulate these emotions. Using a nation-wide survey of more than 2700 US citizens we show that over and above the effects of positive emotions, the self-employed experienced fewer negative emotions than those who are employed, contingent on their regulatory coping behaviors. We discuss implications of these results for the literature on entrepreneurial emotions.     

The emotions of top managers and key persons in cross-border M&As: Evidence from a longitudinal case study

Building on prior research on emotions in M&A, this paper analyses the post-M&A emotions of top managers and key persons from the acquired company by examining what triggers emotions during the post-acquisition integration stage, and what the consequences of those emotions are. This study applies cognitive appraisal and affective event theories with empirical evidence based on a longitudinal, single case study of an Indian–Finnish acquisition. The main findings imply that M&As are very emotional for top managers and key persons. Our findings reveal that they experience a wide range of positive and negative emotions triggered by individual and company-level triggers. Interestingly various triggers can have different and opposite appraisal outcomes in the short and long-term. In addition, top managers and key persons are often restricted in the range of behavioural outcomes caused by emotions.     

Business Ethics as Field of Teaching,Training and Research in Oceania

Social relations are predominantly influenced by an exchange paradigm whereby the logic of reciprocity shapes behaviour. If the notion of exchange instrumentalism is common across different business disciplines, this does not deny attempts – such as through gift exchange theory – to present different conceptions of traditional exchange-based relations. Gift exchange theory appears promising as it seeks to establish more meaning and significance to the nature and context of exchange relations between human actors or parties. The underlying processes may be different for gift exchange and more traditional economic-based exchanges, but the general outcome remains the same – the obligation of reciprocity between actors. In this article, we develop an alternative conception of social and business experience that transcends the dominant logic of exchange: the existential gift. Firmly embedded in the idea of giving for its own sake, the existential gift suggests that for some individuals the expectations of reciprocity are neither sought nor established. Generosity that is expressed in both tangible and intangible ways need not depend on the response of intended receivers or recipients (e.g. acceptance or non-acceptance) to precipitate future acts of giving. Based on the logic of unconditionality, the existential gift provides human actors with greater freedom in their choices and relationships. It may well be that this freedom, in turn, creates a new ‘ethic of generosity’ whereby significant progress can be made towards developing more human models and practices in business.