歲末年初，又到了送禮的時節。送禮也是一門學問，送得好可以增進感情，送得不好則會讓對方心生怨懟。如何選擇禮物才能讓對方高興呢？來看看專家們給出的建議。
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Don’t fret about the price
不要糾結價格
Should you just splurge to show how much you care?
你該不該多花點錢來證明你有多在乎呢？
Research has actually shown that spending more does not always guarantee a well-received gift. One study found that the more expensive a gift, the more givers expected recipients to appreciate it. But while givers thought spending more conveyed more thoughtfulness, receivers didn’t associate the price with their level of appreciation.
事實上，研究顯示，多花錢不總是能保證你買到受歡迎的禮物。一項研究發現，禮物越貴重，送禮者就越期待收禮者感激。然而，儘管送禮者認為，錢花得更多意味著禮物更有心，收禮者對禮物的喜歡程度卻不與價格掛鈎。
"It seems pretty intuitive that if you spend more, you’re going to get a better gift. It turns out that there’s no evidence that recipients are sensitive to the cost of a gift when they figure out how much they’re going to enjoy that gift,」 says Jeff Galak, an associate professor of marketing at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business in the US city of Pittsburgh.
美國匹茲堡市的卡耐基梅隆大學泰珀商學院營銷學副教授傑夫·蓋拉克說：「你花更多錢，就能買到更好的禮物，這似乎是人們下意識的想法。實際上並沒有證據表明，收禮者對禮物的喜歡程度和價格有關。」
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Think longer term
目光放長遠些
Galak says the trick for giving a great gift is to think past the fleeting moment of actually handing it over.
蓋拉克說，送對禮物的訣竅在於，不要只想到送禮的瞬間，要把目光放長遠些。
"When givers give gifts, they’re trying to optimise on the moment they give the gift and see the smile on the recipient’s face right in that moment,」 says Galak. 「But what recipients care about is how much value they’re going to derive from that over a longer time period.」
蓋拉克說：「送禮人在選購禮物時，為了看到收禮者臉上的笑容會很重視送禮瞬間。但是收禮者在乎的是長遠來看自己能從禮物中得到多少價值。」
In other words, it might not be exciting to watch a friend or family member open the gift of a movie-streaming subscription, so you might be less likely to give one. But a recipient may actually love it, since it’s a gift that can be enjoyed often over time.
換言之，也許親友在打開流媒體訂閱禮物時不會有令人興奮的開心表情，因此你也不太可能送這種禮物。然而收禮者或許會喜歡這件禮物，因為它是可以在日後經常享用的禮物。
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Forget about uniqueness
禮物無需獨特
Galak also suggests not getting hung up on giving the most unique gift out there. Sometimes something that many people desire or many others have can be exactly what someone wants.
蓋拉克還指出，不要一心只想送獨一無二的禮物。有時候許多人想要的東西或者許多其他人擁有的東西也許正是某人想要的禮物。
One study showed that we tend to focus on a recipient’s unique traits and personality as we shop for them. But this hyper-specificity leads us to ignore other aspects of their wants and needs, which may make us buy them an inferior gift. We also tend to want to buy different gifts for multiple people, even if they might all be happier with the same thing – and might never compare gifts at all.
一項研究顯示，我們在選購禮物時，往往會關注收禮者的個性。但是這種高度特異性讓我們忽略了他們其他方面的需求，這也許會導致最後送出的禮物不那麼令人滿意。我們也傾向於為多個人買不同的禮物，即使他們可能都喜歡同樣的東西——而且也許永遠不會互相比較。
In order to feel like a good gift giver, people erroneously feel like they need to diversify the gifts, even at the cost of giving the best present, according to Galak. You might also overlook buying something that you own because you don’t want to undermine your own sense of individuality.
蓋拉克說，為了做到「盡善盡美」，人們錯誤地認為自己需要送出多樣化的禮物，即便代價是放棄最佳禮物。你在選購禮物時可能也會跳過自己擁有的東西，因為你不想有損自己的個性。
So those trainers of yours that your friend loves? Don’t avoid gifting a matching pair just because you want to be unique.
因此如果你朋友喜歡你的那雙運動鞋，就不要為了自己想要的獨一無二而故意不買同款鞋當禮物。
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Buy based on shared interests
基於共同的愛好選購禮物
To shop better, Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and co-author of Happy Money, suggests starting with something you have in common with the recipient. She says, you should focus on what you share and pick a gift from there.
加拿大英屬哥倫比亞大學心理學教授、《快樂金錢》合著者伊莉莎白·鄧恩說，為了選購到更好的禮物，你可以先從你和收禮者的共同點著手。她說，你應該基於你們的共同點來挑禮物。
For an even stronger gift think about a common interest you share and buy something that your recipient can experience – say, concert tickets or a cooking class. Research has also shown that experiential gifts can bring you and the recipient closer, even if you don’t experience the gift with your recipient.
如果你想送更好的禮物，你可以想想兩個人共同的興趣是什麼，然後據此購買體驗式禮物，比如音樂會門票或烹飪課。研究還顯示，體驗式禮物能讓你和收禮者的心靠得更近，即使你沒有和收禮者一起體驗這份禮物。
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Ask them what they want
問對方想要什麼禮物
If you have nothing in common, though, Dunn recommends just asking the recipient what they want. In fact, research shows that people are more appreciative of gifts they ask for than ones they don’t.
如果你和收禮者毫無共同點，鄧恩建議你直接問收禮者想要什麼。事實上，研究表明，人們收到自己指定的禮物會更感激。
"People want to be creative and surprise the recipient,」 says Dunn, 「but the better gift will be whatever it is they say they want.」
鄧恩說：「人們想用創意禮物給收禮者一個驚喜，但更好的禮物是對方自己想要的禮物。」
Galak agrees that the simplest way to make a person happy with a gift is asking them what they want. It’s not an answer most people like, he says, because good gifts are supposed to be a 『surprise』 – even though science has disproven this.
蓋拉克同意，讓一個人開心的最簡單的送禮方式就是問對方想要什麼。他說，這不是多數人喜歡的答案，因為人們想當然地認為好禮物應該是個「驚喜」，儘管科學已經證明事實並非如此。
"Asking somebody what they want is seen as taboo. And that’s a shame,」 he says. 「We would all be better off if we gave people what they want.」
他說：「問別人想要什麼禮物被視為禁忌。這很可惜。如果我們送的是對方指定的禮物，大家都會更開心。」
英文來源：BBC
原標題：《雙語|看完這篇「科學送禮指南」，送禮再也不發愁！》