People often choose holiday gifts based on their friends’ preferences, but a new study finds that political beliefs may also play a role.
Researchers found personal politics played a role in gift-giving during this period when people made political decisions that they thought aligned with the recipient’s sentiments.
They conducted five studies where participants were asked to choose Christmas gifts for friends and family, finding that they chose based on politics 65 percent of the time.
For example, gift buyers to choose between products that align with different political viewpoints – such as liberal Starbucks versus Black Rifle Coffee – will allow the gift recipient’s political preferences to sway their decision.
In fact, political parties played a bigger role in the choice of gifts than the type of products
They had them other people’s music, artistic tastes and how they enjoy experiences compared to material things.
“Each study shows a similar pattern: Participants think that political opinions are more influential than they are,” Justin Pomerance, a professor at the University New Hampshirehe said.
‘This overthinking holds true across a range of consumer choices, from music and art to more personal items such as gifts.’
This election has exposed political sentiment just in time for the holidays, and science shows that this can have a big impact on gift giving.
These five studies asked participants online to answer a series of consumer questions.
In the first study, participants created a list of two songs: one for themselves, and one for someone else.
When choosing their music, only 58 percent came from artists who follow their political views.
But when making music for another person, 64 out of 100 songs were similar to what the other person was leaning towards.
A second study, which asked participants to choose their drawings with another person, produced similar results.
They chose the art of political cooperation for others more often than they did for themselves.
Three other studies followed the same pattern.
The researchers asked participants to choose an item they would like to buy for themselves and for someone else, and to predict how much others would enjoy the experience compared to physical items.
The researchers found that personal politics helped people a lot when buying gifts, because in this case, people made a decision based on their feelings.
The researchers also compared political affiliation with other identities such as gender and race. For example, they told students that the museum’s top donor was conservative, generous or gender-identified or minority.
The results showed that political ideology had a greater influence on the attitudes of the participants than gender or race.
‘There are several reasons for this,’ said Pomerance. ‘First, it seems more acceptable for people to like or dislike people based on politics rather than race or gender.’
‘Political identity is understood as a choice and a reflection of one’s preferences.’
These findings have significant implications for businesses because while a brand’s political leanings may not affect how customers shop themselves, it does appear to affect how they shop with others.
This is particularly difficult during the holiday season, when businesses see a surge in sales due to people buying gifts for their loved ones.
Pomerance said the bottom line for businesses is: ‘If you’re going to be political, maybe think about giving gifts… that’s where political opinion can have an impact because people are choosing others. .’
‘But it’s better not to get involved. Research shows you’re not really missing out.’
