Do People Appreciate Expensive Gifts More?

You're choosing between two gifts.

One costs $25.

The other costs $60.

If you spend more, will the person receiving the gift appreciate it more?

It can certainly feel that way.

We may assume that spending more communicates greater effort, generosity or thoughtfulness.

But research suggests that gift givers and gift recipients may see the relationship between price and appreciation differently.

In 2009, Francis Flynn and Gabrielle Adams published Money Can't Buy Love: Asymmetric Beliefs about Gift Price and Feelings of Appreciation in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Across three studies, they examined how gift givers and recipients thought about the relationship between the price of a gift and the recipient's appreciation. ScienceDirect

The researchers found an interesting difference.

Gift givers expected more expensive gifts to be more appreciated.

Recipients, however, did not report the same relationship between gift price and how much they actually appreciated the gift. ScienceDirect

That gap is the important part.

The research suggests that givers may see the amount spent as a signal.

A more expensive gift can feel like it communicates:

“I put more into this.”

“This person matters to me.”

“I wanted to do something special.”

In the studies, givers associated higher prices with greater thoughtfulness and therefore expected recipients to appreciate more expensive gifts more strongly.

From the giver's perspective, that can make perfect sense.

But the recipient doesn't necessarily evaluate the gift using the same calculation.

This wasn't only tested with hypothetical purchases.

One of the three studies asked people to think about an actual birthday gift they had either given or received.

Again, those in the giver role connected higher gift prices with greater expected appreciation.

Those describing gifts they had received did not show the same relationship between price and their actual appreciation. DOI

That's especially relevant to an everyday question many of us face:

“Am I spending enough?”

The research suggests that price may occupy more space in the giver's mind than in the recipient's.

Imagine a child who loves drawing.

You have two options:

Option A

A $55 electronic toy that looks impressive but isn't connected to any of their current interests.

Option B

A $20 set of art materials in the colors and style they regularly use.

The study doesn't tell us that the $20 gift will definitely be preferred.

But it gives us a reason to question the assumption that:

$55 automatically communicates more thoughtfulness than $20.

Price is only one characteristic of a gift.

Relevance can be another.

If you're trying to choose thoughtfully within a specific amount, our guide to Birthday Gift Ideas by Budget: Thoughtful Gifts Under $15, $25 and $50 explores how to use budget as a filter without making price the measure of a good gift.

There is an important distinction.

The researchers did not conclude that people dislike expensive gifts or that spending more is always unnecessary.

Their finding was more specific:

Gift givers tended to overestimate how strongly a recipient's appreciation would be connected to the amount spent. DOI

There are many situations where price can matter.

A higher budget may allow you to buy:

• Better-quality materials.
• Something the person specifically requested.
• A larger experience.
• Equipment for an existing hobby.
• A contribution toward something they really need.

The lesson isn't:

“Always spend less.”

It's:

“Don't assume spending more by itself will make the gift more meaningful.”

Budget matters.

We all need to decide what we're comfortable spending.

But once you've chosen that amount, another question may be more useful:

“What is the best gift I can choose for this person within my budget?”

That shifts the focus from price to fit.

You can think about:

• What they enjoy.
• What they already have.
• What they actually use.
• Their current hobbies.
• Their preferences.
• Things they would rather avoid.
• Ideas they've mentioned before.

Those preferences can be more useful than they seem. Research also suggests that recipients may appreciate gifts they explicitly requested more than gift givers expect. We explore that idea in Does Asking What Someone Wants Make a Gift Less Thoughtful?

A $15, $25 or $50 gift can all be thoughtful choices when they reflect the person receiving them.

One reason gift shopping can become stressful is that we sometimes use price as a shortcut.

If we're unsure what someone wants, spending more can feel safer.

A similar mismatch can happen when we choose the gift that looks most impressive instead of the one that fits the recipient's real life. We look at that research in The Most Impressive Gift Isn't Always the Best One.

But a higher price doesn't necessarily solve the information problem.

Knowing more about the person may be more useful.

Instead of asking only:

“Is this expensive enough?”

we can also ask:

“Does this make sense for them?”

That's a very different way to choose.

This is also why LinGift focuses on information beyond the price of a gift.

An organizer can share things such as:

• Interests.
• Preferences.
• Sizes.
• Favorite colors or styles.
• Things to avoid.
• Specific gift ideas.

If you'd like to see how those details can be organized in practice, read How to Create an Event in LinGift: Step-by-Step Guide.

Guests can then use that information while staying within their own budget.

One person might spend $15.

Another might spend $40.

Both can still make a thoughtful choice.

The goal isn't to help people spend more.

It's to help them choose with better information.

Flynn, F. J., & Adams, G. S. (2009). Money can't buy love: Asymmetric beliefs about gift price and feelings of appreciation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(2), 404–409. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.11.003.