Constant grand gestures and luxurious presents may not be a means to express love but rather to exert control. Excessive gifting is often a tell-tale sign of love bombing. Speaking to Refinery29, clinical psychologist Mary Spillane defined the term as: "Love bombing relates to a person providing excessive love and attention towards another person as a way of manipulating their emotions or feelings towards them." The lover bomber will likely let you know how much the gift cost to make you feel obligated to repay them.
According to Mallory Grimste, therapist and LCSW, a love bomber sees expensive gifts as transactional. She explained, "By telling their romantic interest how much they spend on them, they are quantifying their investment in and value of the person" (via Well+Good). The costly gift you love in the present might be used in the future to guilt-trip you when you question their love or call them out for their bad behavior.
Likewise, a love bomber could be trying to gain more sway over you with over-the-top presents. As licensed psychotherapist Nadine Macaluso informed Texts From Last Night, there may be an ulterior motive: "From your partner's perspective, your acceptance of gifts implies to them that you owe them now or that they own you." Grand gifts can also be given to overcompensate for insecurities and jealousy because they use the prospect of financial gains to keep someone around when they have limited reasons to stay.
