Gift-giving, Love Styles, and Sacrifice: An Analysis Among Romantic Partners

Abstract Going beyond analyzing gift-giving from a single love perspective, this paper aimed to understand the gift-giving from the love types experienced in romantic relationships, investigating the frequency, the reasons for the act of giving gifts among couples, and the sacrificial perception. Through a survey, 257 people participated in the research. The results revealed that the love characterized by eroticism and passion (Eros) is the predominant primary style among couples and is the one that guides individuals to gift more frequently through the social motive. Among the secondary love styles, we observed that the altruist (Agape) tends to be what most often induces gift-giving, generating a sacrificial perception of the offerer. We also saw that the sacrifice can be perceived in the gift-giving in other forms of love besides the Agape style. The study contributes to the literature by revealing that the gift-giving can vary according to the love styles and that the perception of sacrifice in this act is related to these styles. Thus, we propose the development of reflections and investigations focused on the consequences of love forms on consumer behavior, highlighting love styles theory for its ability to provide new interpretations of consumer relations.

摘要 本研究跳出单一爱情视角下的送礼行为分析范式，转而基于恋爱关系中体验到的不同爱情类型（love types），探究情侣间的送礼行为，考察送礼的发生频率、送礼动因以及送礼者的牺牲感知。本次研究通过问卷调查共招募257名参与者完成调研。研究结果显示，以情欲与激情为核心特征的爱情风格（Eros）是情侣群体中占主导地位的首要爱情风格，且该风格会通过社交动机驱使个体更频繁地赠送礼物。在次要爱情风格中，利他型爱情风格（Agape）往往是最常引发送礼行为的类型，并会让送礼者产生牺牲感知。此外，研究还发现，除利他型爱情风格外，其他爱情类型下的送礼行为也能被感知到牺牲成分。本研究的学术贡献在于揭示了送礼行为会随爱情风格的不同而产生差异，且送礼过程中的牺牲感知与爱情风格密切相关。据此，我们提出应围绕爱情形式对消费者行为的影响展开反思与相关研究，并强调爱情风格理论可为消费者关系研究提供全新的解读视角。