Attitudes on commercialisation and anti‐commercial reactions on gift‐giving occasions in Belgium

Gift-giving occasions, like Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, are being ritually celebrated in the same period every year. But a transition is going on. Every year gift-giving occasions start earlier. Well in advance, shops are decorated with Christmas items, Valentine hearts, Easter eggs, etc. This paper examines how people experience this increasing commercial pressure. For example, what do they think of the attention the media and the shops give to ritual gift-giving occasions? Do people react differently if they have a more critical attitude to the commercialisation of gift-giving occasions? These and other research questions are examined in a research project on gift-giving, which started at the University of Antwerp in 1999. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.