Giving Gold Jewelry and Coins As Gifts: The Interplay of Utilitarianism and Symbolism (7 pages) ABSTRACT This paper explores the practice of giving gold jewelry and coins as gifts through a qualitative research conducted in Ankara, Turkey, We seek to understand the occasions of gift giving and the motivation behind this practice of gift giving. We aim to contribute to the existing literature not only by extending our understanding of the dynamics of gift giving behavior in non-Western contexts but also by questioning the tenability ofthe distinction between functionally and symbolically motivated gift giving. We argue that gift giving behavior is guided by interplay of utilitarian and experiential motives, whereby the economic values of gifts play a significant role along with symbolic values, INTRODUCTION Gift giving is a behavior with important social, personal, and economic implications. Given its significance and prevalence as a universal ritual an extensive literature addressing various aspects of gift giving exists within the consumer behavior field. Drawing from anthropological, sociological and psychological literatures these studies explore the underlying motivations, functions, occasions, and participants of gift giving behavior. We aim to contribute to the existing literature by examining the practice of giving gold jewelry and coins as gifts in the Turkish society. Through our study we hope to extend our understanding ofthe dynamics of gift giving behavior in non-Western contexts and also question the tenability of the distinction between functionally and symbolically motivated gift giving. Guided by these concems, we first briefiy review the literature and state our objectives. Then we explain the methodology of the study. We conclude by presenting main findings and discussing the contributions and future research areas, MOTIVATION Gift giving is a topic that has received significant attention from consumer behavior researchers. Researchers examined various aspects of gift-giving including the stages of the gift-giving process (Sherry 1983), gift-giving occasions (Miyazaki 1993; Otnes, Kim and Lowrey 1992; Otnes, Ruth and Milboume 1994), gift selection (Belk 1976), search time and effort of givers (Belk 1982; Otnes, Lowrey and Kim 1993), gender differences in giftgiving (Fischer and Amold 1990; Minova and Gould 1999; Palan, Areni and Kiecker 2001), gift-giving and dating behavior (Belk and Coon 1993),meaningsofgifts (Belk 1988; Wallendorf andAmould 1988; Wolfinbarger 1990; Richins 1994), self-gifts (Mick and Demoss 1990, 1992; Pandya and However, it appears that there are two assumptions underlying the gift giving literature. First, there is a distinction between utilitarian and experiential gift giving, and a tacit understanding that either utilitarian or experiential motives underlie gift giving and that they cannot operate simultaneously (for an exception see, Wolfinbarger and Yale 1993), Second, it seems that the symbolic value of the gift has more importance than its economic value. Because most of the value of the gift stems from the thought and effort put into its selection, gifts of cash or gift certificates appear as inappropriate, impersonal and too materialistic unless they are given in certain contexts such as weddings. This study aims to extend the literature by examining a gift giving behavior in which the distinctions between utilitarian and experiential motives, and economic and symbolic values are blurred: giving gold jewelry and gold coins as gifts. There are several reasons for our focus on gold. First, gold and gold jewelry seem to share many aspects of a gift identified by Belk (1979) including communication, social exchange, economic exchange, and socialization. Jewelry is often characterized as a favorite, popular and traditional gift item (Wolfinbarger 1990; Belk and Coon 1991), It is a highly communicative product (Holman 1981) that carries social cues (Belk and Zhaou 1987), Gold and gold jewelry also facilitate social exchange. Jewelry is perceived as expressive of social connection (Wallendorf and Amould 1988) and symbolizing relationships in rites of passages (Noble and Walker 1997), Gold, on the other hand, serves as a symbol of continuance and merit, and signifies attainment of high standards (Clark 1986), It is also a medium of exchange that can function as a store of value, and therefore, has an economic value. Furthermore, gold is a major investment, adomment and gift item in the Turkish society. In fact, Turkey constitutes one of the world's biggest gold consumption markets, ranked as fifth in demand (Turkishtime,org 2003), In Westem markets gold jewelries are usually low carat and they are bought primarily as items of adomment. In Asia and Middle East, on the other hand, most ofthe gold jewelries are high karat, which can be easily converted back into gold. In Turkey, the main karat marks for gold jewelry are 14, 18 and 22, The 14 and 18 karat jewelry are usually considered as modem designs, whereas the 22 karat gold jewelry is perceived more as an investment tool. The gold coins, on the other hand, come in five different sizes. In Turkey, gold jewelry and coins are traditionally given as gifts in ritualistic occasions. Receiving gold also plays an important role in the empowerment of Turkish women (Sirman 1991), The gold items the bride acquires in her wedding are considered as her property and wealth, and serve as a safeguard against misfortunate events (Neuberger 2001), In this study we explore the occasions gold jewelry and coins are given as gifts, and discuss the underlying motives and meanings as well as the functions gold gifts serve,