Clothing gifts constitute a substantial share of retail sales of clothing and of clothing acquired for consumption, but little else is known about clothing gifts. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the gift-giving process with clothing-specific applications. The framework consists of four stages: prepurchase, purchase, presentation, and postpresentation. Components of the prepurchase stage are object; interactions among occasion, recipient, and gift object; giver and recipient; cost of gifts; and information search. The purchase stage includes choice of retail outlets for gifts, distance traveled to locate gifts, and methods of payment. The presentation stage focuses on perceptions of the giver and the recipient when the gift is revealed. The postpresentation stage includes ways in which gifts affect interpersonal relationships; consumption of gifts is another component of this final stage. Theoretical and methodological issues in gift-giving research are identified and discussed with respect to their impact on research design and interpretation of results. The paper concludes with a list of research topics on clothing gifts.
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