Journal of Consumer Marketing

Purpose – The reported study was designed to provide insight into gift cards as gifts and their place among gifts of cash and goods. It also was designed to identify promising avenues for further research.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to a convenience sample of 317 respondents of both sexes who varied greatly in age.

Findings – Effective liquidity served largely as the basis for categorizing gift cards. The greater a card's effective liquidity, the more its economic impact on the recipient resembles that of cash. The results indicated the following: face value affects recipient preference for effective liquidity; the giver-getter relationship affects recipient preference for effective liquidity; the gift cards givers give tend to have less effective liquidity than those they prefer to get; some gift cards are more appropriate gifts than others and some, but not all, gift cards are more appropriate gifts than cash; and people feel less guilt when paying for personal luxuries with gift cards than with cash.

Research limitations – The study was largely exploratory insofar as its breadth greatly exceeded its depth and findings derived from a convenience sample.

Originality/value – The study introduced effective liquidity as a basis for assessing similarities and differences between gift cards and gifts of cash and goods. Findings enhance scholarly understanding of gift cards and their place among gifts of cash and goods. Moreover, they afford insights into marketing gift cards and into promising paths for further research.