Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China
Abstract Gift giving is a prevalent social custom, particularly in Chinese society. Since people do not act independently of social norms, they are also motivated by the views of others when giving gifts. However, there is no existing literature on this important topic for China. To fill this gap, b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01214-4 |
| _version_ | 1818202812400533504 |
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| author | Tao Zhang |
| author_facet | Tao Zhang |
| author_sort | Tao Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Gift giving is a prevalent social custom, particularly in Chinese society. Since people do not act independently of social norms, they are also motivated by the views of others when giving gifts. However, there is no existing literature on this important topic for China. To fill this gap, based on the law of diminishing marginal utility, this study investigates the effects of social conformity on gift giving in China. A relative index is constructed to capture the following behaviours in gift giving. The likelihood of following behaviours is measured by a statistical model derived from utility functions. Panel and dynamic ordinal discrete regressions are employed for empirical analysis. A case study in China employing a nationally representative longitudinal dataset with 37,147 individuals over three periods is applied. The results show that overall, more than half of the population in China tends to follow others in regard to gift expenses. However, from 2014 to 2018, this tendency declined sharply. Men are more likely to follow their peers in gift expenditure than are women. Older people have a lower preference to follow others than young people. More specifically, the assumption of diminishing marginal utility in gift giving is fully supported by the empirical findings in this study. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:15:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58895c724b9546e292143ae285419362 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:15:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-58895c724b9546e292143ae2854193622022-12-22T00:40:17ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922022-06-019111210.1057/s41599-022-01214-4Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from ChinaTao Zhang0Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Macao Polytechnic UniversityAbstract Gift giving is a prevalent social custom, particularly in Chinese society. Since people do not act independently of social norms, they are also motivated by the views of others when giving gifts. However, there is no existing literature on this important topic for China. To fill this gap, based on the law of diminishing marginal utility, this study investigates the effects of social conformity on gift giving in China. A relative index is constructed to capture the following behaviours in gift giving. The likelihood of following behaviours is measured by a statistical model derived from utility functions. Panel and dynamic ordinal discrete regressions are employed for empirical analysis. A case study in China employing a nationally representative longitudinal dataset with 37,147 individuals over three periods is applied. The results show that overall, more than half of the population in China tends to follow others in regard to gift expenses. However, from 2014 to 2018, this tendency declined sharply. Men are more likely to follow their peers in gift expenditure than are women. Older people have a lower preference to follow others than young people. More specifically, the assumption of diminishing marginal utility in gift giving is fully supported by the empirical findings in this study.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01214-4 |
| spellingShingle | Tao Zhang Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China |
| title_full | Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China |
| title_fullStr | Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China |
| title_short | Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China |
| title_sort | measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function statistical model and empirical evidence from china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01214-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT taozhang measuringfollowingbehaviouringiftgivingbyutilityfunctionstatisticalmodelandempiricalevidencefromchina |