On the practice of returning 30% of a gift back to the sender as yet another polite reciprocal gift --
Having been to Japan now and having seen the amount of gift wrapping and boxes and packaging of little food items and treats, I wonder if this simple social rule actually drives quite a notable amount of consumer spending and economic activity in the country!
It's a positive feedback loop for sure, but a diminishing one: you're not expected to reciprocate 100%, and you're not expected to reciprocate 30% of your 30% reciprocation you received.
Americans have a gift reciprocation culture as well, particularly around birthdays and Christmas.
Having been to Japan now and having seen the amount of gift wrapping and boxes and packaging of little food items and treats, I wonder if this simple social rule actually drives quite a notable amount of consumer spending and economic activity in the country!