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As gifts are an important market sector for selling fresh flowers, this study investigated the effects of the characteristics associated with the dyads of givers and receivers on the probability of buying fresh flowers as gifts. Based on the theory of gift giving, several factors were hypothesized to influence the probability of buying fresh flowers as gifts, including givers’ financial capability and the perceived gift values of flowers, as well as knowledge of receiver’s needs, preferences, and difficulty to please. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to test the hypotheses. Results of the statistical analysis based on 394 valid questionnaires revealed that the perceived gift values of flowers, i.e., the economic value, functional value, social value, and expressive value, were the most important factors for the consumer decision of whether to buy fresh flowers as gifts. However, different gift values were emphasized for fresh flowers across different relational ties. For example, economic value was the key value when the receivers were parents, whereas social value and expressive value were emphasized when the receivers were romantic partners. Different from many previous studies, this study revealed that financial capability did not influence the likelihood of givers deciding to purchase fresh flowers for gifts. The study results implied that when promoting fresh flowers for gift use, the gift values of fresh flowers need to be emphasized to consumers. Because of their beauty and symbolic meanings of love, status, belonging, celebration, sympathy, etc., flowers have long been used as gifts to enhance social relationships, or to symbolize something important in life rituals (Ziegler, 2007). When used for gifts, flowers are perceived as emotional gifts and are used mainly to convey givers’ affection to the receivers or relationships (Yue et al., 2009). Gifts of flowers stimulate more feelings of caring and warmth compared with other alternatives, and are thus beneficial for the facilitation of social relationships (SAF, 2012a). Actually, gift giving is one of the primary forces driving the growth of the global floral industry: nearly 60% of Americans have given flowers or houseplants as gifts at least once, and 67% of fresh flower purchases are for gifts (SAF, 2012b, 2012c). In Asian countries, about 80% of cut flowers are purchased for gifts or commercial purpose in Japan, and 60% of potted plants purchases were for gifts in Korea (Kim et al., 1999). Academic research also demonstrates that gift giving is a key factor that drives consumers in Taiwan to purchase flowers (Huang, 2005). As gift giving is such an important driver of fresh flower purchases, researchers of floral marketing have investigated some important factors behind floral gift purchases, such as consumers’ attitudes, purchase intention, purchase frequency, and the price they are willing to pay. For instance, a study by Scammon et al. (1982) has examined the socioeconomics, purchase motivation, and purchase process for consumers who buy flowers for obligatory gifts. Yue et al. (2009) found that most of the consumers perceive flowers as a pleasant and ‘‘hard-togo-wrong’’ gift due to the stability of the symbolism associated with flowers. Rihn et al. (2011) compared differences in consumer attitudes toward using fresh flowers as gifts between generations X (33 to 50 years old) and Y (18 to 32 years old), and found that younger consumers see floral gifts more negatively. For example, many young consumers perceive floral gifts as expensive, impractical, extravagant, or not unique enough to identify the giver. Consumer behavior for holiday floral gifts has also interested some researchers. For example, Lai and Huang (2013) studied the characteristics of romantic relationships and their effects on the probability of buying flowers as a romantic gift for Valentine’s Day, the most important holiday for selling fresh flowers. Their study results revealed that passion and spiritual fulfillment encouraged consumers to buy their intimate partners flowers on Valentine’s Day. Although some important knowledge on consumer floral gift giving has been explored, the basic question of why flowers are picked out from numerous gift alternatives remains unanswered. There is still much to learn about floral gift giving, including the basic question of why consumers buy or don’t buy fresh flowers for gifts, to expand the retail market for fresh flowers. This study was intended to address this deficiency. The objectives for this study were 1) to investigate the effect of givers’ knowledge of the character of the receivers, in terms of preferences, needs, and difficulty to please, on the decision of whether to buy a floral gift; 2) to investigate the effect of givers’ perceived gift value of flowers on the probability of buying a floral gift; and 3) to evaluate the effect of givers’ financial capability on the decision to buy a floral gift. All the study objectives were examined across different relation ties between the givers and recipients, including parents, romantic partners, and others, because in the real world different relationships are emphasized for different gift-giving holidays. For example, the mother–child relationship is emphasized on Mothers’ Day, so mothers are the key persons for whom children should buy gifts to convey their respect and love. Similarly, fathers for Fathers’ Day, lovers for Valentine’s Day, good friends and family for Christmas or Chinese New Year, etc., are the principle recipients. Carrying out the study objectives across different relationships not only allows the authors to assess the study outcomes more thoroughly but also enhances the practicality of the study results for selling floral gifts at different holidays. Theoretical Framework Gift giving is a very common social behavior in daily life, and is done to enhance the social relationship between the dyad of the giver and receiver. In gift giving, givers’ affection toward the receivers and their relationships is translated to the receivers with gifts (Banks, 1979; Schwartz, 1967; Sherry, 1983). From the receiver’s standpoint, to accept the gift means to accept the intention of the giver. That is, a gift acts as a communication tool in which the giver encodes an intended message, and the receiver needs to decode the message from the context of the gift, in terms of value, quality, symbolism, occasion, etc., to understand the giver’s thought (Larsen and Watson, 2001; Schwartz, 1967; Sherry, 1983). Even though many resources can be used as gifts, such as material goods, assistance, or other kinds of service (Belk and Coon, 1993), the givers need to carefully decide what to give to avoid being misunderstood. The appropriateness of gifts is decisive for the effectiveness of gift giving. Received for publication 2 Mar. 2014. Accepted for publication 6 June 2014. This research was funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Grant NSC 101-2410-H-002-192. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. To whom reprint requests should be addressed; e-mail lihuang@ntu.edu.tw. 1028 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 50(7) JULY 2015 Why does an appropriate gift work well for a relationship? The appropriateness of a gift indicates the depth of a giver’s understanding of the recipient’s needs, desires, preferences, and/or the relationship status. Actually, the receiver sees the fitness or appropriateness of the gift object as a cue for judging the giver’s efforts and sincerity. Besides, the receiver also perceives the gift as an indicator of the giver’s caring for the receiver and the relationship. Via the appropriateness of the gift, the receiver feels understood and cared for. It makes the receiver more willing to commit to the relationship, and thus the relationship status is more ensured and stable (Belk, 1996). From the standpoint of social psychology, an inappropriate gift makes the receiver feel misinterpreted or degraded, and see the giver as insincere and unfriendly (Schwartz, 1967). Therefore, an inappropriate gift insults the receiver, and thus is very harmful to a relationship. Since gifts also reflect a giver’s self-identification, an inappropriate gift also degrades the giver’s self (Schwartz, 1967). A failed gift giving will have negative impact on the relationship, in particular to relationships with loose ties. For instance, failed gift giving will have more impact on relationships with friends, colleagues, and in-laws than on close relationships with family members, such as children, parents, and spouses (Roster, 2006). Due to the impact of the appropriateness of a gift for a social relationship, searching for a gift can be an anxious task for the giver. To make the right gift selection, the giver needs to refer to different information to decide what to give. Previous studies had different findings regarding the cues that a giver relies on to decide what to give (Belk, 1982; Caplow, 1984; Sherry et al., 1993; Wooten, 2000), including 1) receiver’s preferences, taste, needs, and how difficult they are to please (Goodwin et al., 1990; Otnes et al., 1993; Schiffman and Cohn, 2009; Sherry, 1983); 2) the intimacy of the relationship (Caplow, 1982; Cheal, 1987; Joy, 2001; Larsen and Watson, 2001; Sherry, 1983; Wagner et al., 1990); and 3) the giver’s self-identification and affluence (Cheal, 1986; Larsen and Watson, 2001; Neisser, 1973; Schwartz, 1967; Sherry, 1983). The information most often referred to for selecting an appropriate gift is the characteristics of the receiver (Goodwin et al., 1990). No matter whether the giver’s motivation for gift giving is altruism, obligation, or manipulation, most of the goals of gift giving need to be achieved via pleasing the receiver. Thus, it is reasonable for the givers to refer to the characteristics of the receivers to decide what to give. Actually, fi

Who Decides to Give a Gift of Fresh Flowers? The Effects of Givers and Receivers on the Likelihood of Buying Fresh Flowers for Gifts