Experiential Gifts Create Stronger, Longer-Lasting Happiness, Research Finds

Booking a cooking class beats buying another candle, according to research from Wharton marketing professor Cassie Mogilner, whose paper "Experiential Gifts Are More Socially Connecting than Material Gifts" challenges the instinct to default to objects when a birthday or anniversary rolls around.

Mogilner's research finds that while people enjoy receiving material things, including an expensive watch or a scented candle, they really seem to relish gifts that give them an experience. The crucial distinction in her findings: experiential gifts made recipients feel more connected to the giver, even without making them like the gift more. "They didn't like the gifts any more, but they did feel more connected," Mogilner noted when she discussed the paper on the Knowledge at Wharton show on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM Channel 111.

That nuance reframes the entire purpose of giving. "Our argument is that a big goal of gift giving is not just to give a liked gift, but to foster relationships," Mogilner said. A Wharton Knowledge Center summary of the broader academic literature on gifting reinforces the point, reporting that experiential gifts produce stronger, longer-lasting happiness than purely material gifts.

The practical implications cut against how most people approach the gift-buying process. Mogilner points out a counterintuitive finding, one she notes comes from outside her own research, that gift recipients do not appreciate thoughtfulness as much as givers assume they will. "Gift recipients don't appreciate thoughtfulness as much as the gift giver thinks they will," she said. When givers have the option to buy from a registry but instead choose to craft a more personal, inventive alternative, they tend to overestimate how much that creative detour will be valued. "Recipients like presents off their registry better," Mogilner said. "They don't give as much value to the thought that went into the gift in terms of how much they like the gift."

Her conclusion, delivered with some wryness: "So if your goal is to make the recipient like the gift, you might want to try being a little less thoughtful."

The distinction between liking and connection is worth sitting with before the next gift-giving occasion arrives. Mogilner advises thinking carefully about the specific recipient when selecting an experience, since the goal is relevance, not just novelty. A spa day for someone who finds them stressful, or a concert for someone indifferent to the artist, won't deliver the connection benefit that the research describes. "Certainly, in gift giving you want to think about the recipient as you're picking out what that experience is going to be or that material good," she said.

The findings suggest that the most meaningful gifts may be the ones that create a shared memory or a story the recipient returns to, rather than an object that depreciates quietly on a shelf.