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The idea of presenting such gifts is to shock and awe the recipients, and in the future to provide the recipients with the potential to shock and awe their colleagues and superiors. By doing so, the impression of superiority is then established. And if the European missionary or explorer is able to gain the favor of the recipient of the gift, that person is then empowered to make further impression on others.

A great example can be gleamed from the records of Matteo Ricci, a key early Catholic missionary to China. He sought access to the highest levels of officials, and had to work for it over years. His predecessor Ruggieri had gained the friendship of a minor military official by the gift of a watch. They leveraged further gifts from Portuguese merchants to gain access to the local official.

But to be granted an audience with Rui Chen the Governor-General of Guangdong, Ricci had to significantly increase the level of gift giving by presenting an elaborate clock.

Rui Chen was very proud of his clock, and showed it off to other officials, including Wang Pan the governor of Zhaoqing, so he too wanted one. Ricci and his colleagues attempted to gift images of the Virgin Mary, but officials weren't impressed and they had to instead gift handkerchiefs.

There are plenty of such examples elsewhere. We can also compare the degree of acceptance of Vasco da Gama, who arrived in India roughly empty-handed and poor, versus that of Almeida and Alburquerque, who smartly used a combination of gifts and military action to gain access and favors.

Check out R. Po-Chia Hsia's A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci 1552-1610.