I was touched, and as I was rather peckish at the time I tucked straight into the chocolate. That got me thinking. Why did I value the chocolate bar so much? If the thank you note had included the cash value of the bar I would have been rather puzzled (it's just not the done thing) and maybe even insulted. I certainly would not have felt as appreciated as I did as I devoured the Milky Way.
Tons of research has shown that material gifts are appreciated more than the cash. This is strange; cash gives us more flexibility. A recent paper by Kube, Marechal and Puppe (2011) concludes that it really is the thought that counts. The more thought that has gone into a gift, the more we appreciate it, almost regardless of how useful the gift is to us.
So there we go; if anyone feels like thanking me in the near future... send a chocolate bar...
I also received such a thank you note and chocolate bar (for full disclosure I received a snack size Fairtrade Dairy milk). Whilst the thought was possibly greater in my case (I only eat Fairtrade chocolate) my initial thought and thought throughout eating said bar of chocolate was that I would much prefer a young person have to pay £2 less to come on a sailing holiday than me receive a postcard and chocolate bar through the rather expensive post in a rather expensive looking padded jiffy bag.
ReplyDeleteI guess they have to weigh up whether the chocolate bar will entice leaders back (long term investment) versus the immediate cost. I may agree with you...
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