Gift

One Christmas, several years ago, I was handed an envelope as my Polyanna gift from my sister-in-law. Gifts that are handed to us in envelopes ordinarily mean one thing: cash or the modern cash equivalent – gift cards.

However, for my adventure minded sister-in-law an envelope with cash or a gift card just wouldn’t do.  Not her style, thank-you very much.

No, what that envelope contained was my first experience gift.

Inside the envelope was the most wonderful gift of the experience of a hot air balloon ride, something I had imagined experiencing for years but never quite . . got around to . . or got the courage to do or . . Well, for whatever reason I never got past the imagination stage.

To be precise what she handed me was a colorful voucher for one pre-paid ride on a hot air balloon, redeemable within one year,  at various locations around the country. All pre-paid and ready to go. All I had to do was to contact a local service provider and make the arrangements for my adventure.

In my case the  nearest location was Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a beautiful rural farming area famous for its association with the “Pennsylvania Dutch” or Amish and Mennonite communities.

Many researchers are now studying the psychological benefits of experience gifts over material gifts. In these studies researchers are discovering consumers receive a greater satisfaction from experience gifts. Read more about these psychological benefits here.