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.