Rw. Belk et Gs. Coon, GIFT GIVING AS AGAPIC LOVE - AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE EXCHANGE PARADIGM-BASED ON DATING EXPERIENCES, Journal of consumer research, 20(3), 1993, pp. 393-417
The social sciences are dominated by a paradigm that views human behav
ior as instrumental exchange. It is not surprising that consumer resea
rch on gift giving has also been dominated by this exchange paradigm.
The present research on dating gift giving among American college stud
ents finds support for two variants of this paradigm, but it also reve
als an alternative paradigm of gift giving as an expression of agapic
love. It is suggested that agapic expressiveness is a needed addition
to exchange instrumentalism for understanding gift giving and perhaps
for understanding consumer behavior in general.