Does Santa have a great Job?: Gift shopping value and satisfaction

For good or bad, shopping and gifting are intertwined. This research looks at sources of gratification associated with shopping for gifts. More particularly, the roles played by general and specific shopping orientations in shaping gift shopping value and satisfaction are examined. Results from testing a theoretical model suggest that gift shopping orientations, such as agape, may dominate general shopping orientations, such as price consciousness. Also, the important role played by utilitarian shopping value is consistent with gift shopping more as a job than as a source of leisure. However, the results fall short of suggesting a negative relationship between gift shopping and hedonic shopping value. So gift shopping may be a job, but a job that is not so horrible after all. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.