Does the information 'handmade with love' have a positive effect on the purchaser or the gift recipient?

Food, furniture, accessories, etc. are often given as gifts or sold with the message 'handmade.' When something is labeled 'handmade with love,' it tends to give the impression that it is 'more thoughtful and special than something mass-produced by a machine.' However, a research team from the University of Queensland has announced the results of an investigation into how adding such a phrase actually affects the recipient's motivation to act.

Made With Love: Examining Consumer Engagement With Handmade Versus Machine‐Made Production Cues - Degirmenci - Journal of Consumer Behavior - Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cb.2455

Does 'made with love' sell? Research reveals who values handmade products the most
https://theconversation.com/does-made-with-love-sell-research-reveals-who-values-handmade-products-the-most-247351

The 'handmade' element is said to actually evoke more positive emotions in recipients, and a survey published in 2012 showed that consumers increasingly prefer human interactions over machines, including shopping experiences, and that giving handmade gifts also fosters social relationships.

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland ran two experiments to explore how marketing a product as 'handmade' affects consumer decision-making and other behaviors.

In the first experiment, participants were divided into three groups and shown a picture of the same mug. However, one of the three groups was told that the mug was handmade, the other that it was machine-made, and the last group was not told how it was made. They were then asked how much they liked the mug and how much they would be willing to pay to buy it.

As a result, as shown in previous studies, the group that was told that the mug was handmade tended to feel the most affection and show a higher willingness to purchase. However, according to the research team, while the handmade element was evaluated as attractive by 'people who take time to carefully consider things,' it had almost no effect on 'people who don't care about details and make decisions quickly.' In the latter case, it seems that those who were not told how the mug was made showed a higher attachment to the mug.

In the second experiment, we looked at the Facebook page of American e-commerce site Etsy, which has over 9,000 pieces of content related to handmade products, and analyzed how calls to action, such as 'move' and 'go,' affect consumer engagement.

The background to this experiment was the hypothesis that 'sellers can induce a mindset of taking action in consumers through social media. This hypothesis is that by using words that motivate people to take action, they can encourage consumers to make active decisions.

However, the experiment revealed that the more action-oriented an individual was, the fewer posts about handmade products were shared, suggesting that consumers who are more likely to act quickly still did not value the handmade element as much.

Based on these experimental results, the research team argues that 'the selling point 'handmade with love' does not necessarily stimulate the other person's motivation to act. For example, even if you give someone a handmade gift for their birthday, the fact that it is handmade may not have a positive effect depending on the recipient's behavioral inclination.

'When speaking to a 'caring' recipient, you need to emphasize the craftsmanship, care and affection behind the gift,' the research team said. 'So use emotive language like 'handmade with love.' The key is to be aware of who you're speaking to.'