Research has been done on what gifts people like to receive. It turns out that simple and straight forward is often the best approach.
Social scientists bear glad tidings for the holiday season. After extensively observing how people respond to gifts, they have advice for shoppers: You don’t have to try so hard. You’re not obliged to spend hours finding just the right gift for each person on your list. Most would be just as happy with something quick and easy. This may sound too good to be true, but rest assured this is not a ploy by some lazy Scrooges in academia.
Source: The Perfect Gift? It’s the One They Asked For – The New York Times