Think romantically but shop for versatility this Valentine's Day

NEW YORK: A little advice on shopping for your valentine: when aiming Cupid's bow, you do not need a perfect bull's eye to score points with your sweetheart.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati show that thoughtful lovers' burning desire to show off just how well they know their partner could get them burnt.

So instead, think romantically but shop for versatility.

"When it comes to choosing gifts for close others, like romantic partners, givers try especially hard to be thoughtful and demonstrate their knowledge of their partner," said Mary Steffel, assistant professor of marketing.

Ironically, these attempts to be thoughtful can backfire.

"We find that givers tend to choose more specific, less versatile gift cards when shopping for romantic partners than friends, but that recipients prefer more versatile gift cards regardless of how close they are to the giver," Steffel explained.

The research features data analysis from multiple experiments where participants were asked to put themselves in the role of a giver or recipient and then choose between gift cards that varied in terms of specificity or versatility.

Steffel and her team also incorporated real-world data from multiple gift card services, such as Giftly, into their research.

The results showed a giver's preference for personalisation often worked against him or her.

"Recipients took longer to redeem gift cards the more specific they were," Steffel said.

"Givers did not anticipate this. They thought it would take recipients equally long to redeem regardless of how specific they were," the authors noted.

The team is scheduled to present the findings at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual conference to be held Feb 26-28 in Long Beach, California.