What Happens to Bad Gifts?

The holiday decorations have been put away, but that unwelcome gift is still sitting in the corner. What do people do with unwanted gifts?

To find out, Deborah Cohn, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing in NYIT School of Management, tackled a massive research project, conducting in-depth interviews and analyzing thousands of online comments. She describes some of what she learned in an article for The Conversation.

When gifts disappoint, it may be either accidental or intentional, says Cohn. Either way, it causes stress for the recipient. “One common solution, at least for purchased gifts, is returning them,” she writes. “But even when the giver gets a refund or the recipient converts an eyesore into a pile of more useful cash, that still takes a toll.”

For Cohn’s analysis of a recipient’s best options for bad gifts, read the full article.