The Four ‘S's’ of experience gift giving behaviour

The purpose of this paper is to explore the behaviour associated with the phenomenon of the giving and receiving of gifts that are experiences. Gift giving theory has evolved around physical goods, to the detriment of building an explicit knowledge of intangible gifts—the hospitality, leisure and tourism experiences. Fifty-two cases of experience gifts emerged from depth interviews with donors or recipients of different ages, occupations and gender. A storyline of the Four S's of experience gift giving—surprise, suspense, sacrifice and sharing—offered distinctive insights into experience gift giving behaviour.