Gift in Our Life: How Gift-giving Culture Affects Media Relations in Vietnam

Abstract

This article examines gift-giving practice in Vietnamese media relations. Using the anthropological perspective on gift giving (Sherry, 1983), this study developed a theoretical framework for understanding gift-giving in public relations through: (1) the gift itself; (2) the consequences of gift-giving and gift taking actions (or consequences for gift-givers and recipients); and (3) the actors’ own understanding of the gift, action structure, and motives (or the situational conditions). This exploratory study reported the results of 31 online surveys and 17 interviews with public relations practitioners in Vietnam about gift-giving practices in media relations to provide evidence of potential impacts of the gift-giving culture on editorial decisions. The findings revealed that viewing gift-giving practices as cultural norms and bribery are two major conflicting approaches to gift-giving among public relations practitioners in Vietnam. Although only one interviewee had mentioned the reason of giftgiving as being influenced by the limitation of freedom of speech, this is a significant finding. Also noticeable is that giving gifts for commercial purposes might sometimes be considered rude and offensive to some media practitioners who follow professional standards. This study suggested theoretical and practical implications of the findings and a theoretical framework of gift-giving practices in public relations that may explain differences in media relations between Western and some Asian countries that have different understandings of the giftgiving concept.