Moderating effect of cultural values on decision making of gift‐giving from a perspective of self‐congruity theory: an empirical study from Chinese context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study undertaken to investigate the effect of Chinese traditional cultural values on the gift‐giving behavior of consumers in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and to check the moderating effects of Chinese traditional cultural values on a consumer's purchase intention and self‐consistency. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey among a large sample of people in four cities, gift‐giving behavior, purchase intention and self‐consistency of the consumer in purchasing decisions were measured by the scale. The Chinese traditional cultural values include Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings Results indicates that Chinese traditional cultural values have significant moderating effects on gift‐buying intention accords with gift‐giver's image and purchase intention accords with gift‐receiver's image. Consumers with higher value orientation are more careful about consistency between gifts with self‐image and receiver's image. Research limitations/implications Research results should be interpreted with caution as the study was limited to several major cities in the PRC. Also the questionnaire has neglected some people who did not fully understand the questions. Practical implications This study points out those Chinese traditional values that play an important role in gift‐buying decisions. Results will provide some professional opinion for some insider engage in gift marketing and add new viewpoints. Originality/value The paper develops new scales for measuring constructs such as Chinese traditional cultural values, attitude for gift‐giving and gift‐buying intention.