Mary Steffel

Mary Steffel, an associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University, said her research found people want to give gifts that people will enjoy, but they also care about seeming thoughtful and increasing how socially connected the recipient feels to them after receiving the gift. That makes some people hesitate to hand over a gift card.

Op-ed co-written by Mary Steffel, an associate professor of marketing at D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. 

In a paper from 2016 by Mary Steffel of Northeastern University and her co-authors, volunteers were told that they had to book hotel rooms at a conference, either for their own use or for their boss, and asked them if they would like to reserve the rooms themselves or delegate the task to an office […]

But for those couples who still wish to give a personally branded bottle opener that says, for example, “Love is brewing,” because you both really like beer, all might not be lost. Mary Steffel, an associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University, told me over email that her research shows that sharing something personal with […]

Still, the desire to be thoughtful can lead to pitfalls, such as overthinking, said Mary Steffel, an associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University who has studied gift giving. “Givers often end up overshooting, getting things that are maybe more unique or more narrow than what the receiver might want.”

Mary Steffel is an assistant professor of marketing at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University.

Mary Steffel, a psychologist at Northeastern University, and colleagues have found that the more specific a gift card is, the less likely it is to be redeemed. “If you’re not sure what your recipient wants,” Dr. Steffel advised, “give them the gift of flexibility.” Above all, remember this: The thought usually doesn’t count. This counterintuitive […]