Perfect! The wealthy world has ascended the Maslow pyramid to the point that our itches are no longer scratched by material stuff. Isn't this the situation that spiritual people have been begging for for millenia?
Now it's time to move onto people's real problems: loneliness, hopelessness, etc.
For those people saying it's an American thing: yes, you're right--we've been on the wealth train for long enough that we've lost that urge to maximize everything. Do we need yet another item that becomes trash? No, we'd rather not waste the money and resources because it's no big deal to have yet another trinket around. And I'm sure the rest of the wealthy world will be with us on this before too long--maybe when a majority of their population didn't grow up combatting scarcity as kids.
Gift-giving remains a huge part of courtship in cultures all over the world. One's romantic interest often expects to receive tangible, material gifts, not mere chats or emotional support. Even if one lucks out with a romantic interest that doesn't demand those things, perhaps the romantic interest's family expects one to give those gifts as a sign of a seriousness and financial solvency.
Maybe reaching out to someone on phone or in person, every now and then, in times of happiness and despair, is a greater gift.
Dishing out money is the easy way out.