On SNS gifting platforms, those who receive a gift often go on to become givers, yet research still centers on the giver, leaving this receiving-to-giving transition largely unexamined. Drawing on the lens of generalized exchange, this study asks how the emotional and functional qualities of the receiving experience convert recipients into future givers, and what role the platform plays in that conversion.
A sequential mixed-methods design was employed in the Asia-Pacific context, where LINE GIFT is a leading mobile gifting service. Study 1 used 21 in-depth interviews to surface salient attributes of the receiving experience; Study 2 tested the resulting model via PLS-SEM on 293 dual-role users – all of whom had both received and given gifts – with bootstrapped mediation analysis.
Notably, 77.5% of respondents reported that receiving a gift motivated their own giving, a pattern consistent with the transition. Social utility, appropriateness and enjoyment raise recipient satisfaction, whereas among functional attributes only convenience improves platform favorability. Recipient satisfaction and platform favorability jointly and serially mediate the path from the receiving experience to gifting intention, revealing a layered emotional mechanism rather than a single direct route.
Shifting attention from gift attributes to the platform-mediated receiving experience, the study offers behavioral self-reports consistent with the recipient-to-giver transition in mobile SNS gifting and shows how platform design sustains a reciprocity cycle, giving brands and platforms in fast-growing Asia-Pacific markets concrete levers for encouraging satisfied recipients to become active givers.
