Self-Gifting in Interdependent Cultures: Lonely Mothers and Self-Compassion

Self-Gifting in Interdependent Cultures: Lonely Mothers and Self-Compassion. Satoko Suzuki, Saori Kanno. European Association for Consumer Research Conference Proceedings, Volume 11, 2018. http://www3.acrwebsite.org/assets/PDFs/Proceedings/EACRVol11.pdf

ABSTRACT: Self-gifting consumer behavior, due to its nature of focus on self, its compatibility with interdependent cultures had always been questioned. Still, self-gifting is now prevalent in many interdependent cultures. This paper illuminates that self-gifting plays an important role of self-compassion for Japanese mothers feeling isolated from their family members. As demonstrated in its name and characteristics, one of the predominant aspects of self-gift consumer behavior (SGCB) is the focus on self. Hence, Mick and DeMoss (1990a) suggested that SGCB may depend on an individually-centered view of self, and questioned its existence in cultures dominant with a group-centered view of self. Thus, the investigation of SGCB in non-Western cultures has become to be one of the research agendas in the self-gift research. However, only very recently, the initiatives of exploring SGCB in the Eastern cultures have begun (e.g., Joy et al. 2006; Suzuki 2011; Tynan et al. 2010). Using the data gathered from the Japanese mothers on their SGCB, we explore how self-gifts play a role in interdependent cultures.