Survey: Men fear gift giving

LOS ANGELES
November 7, 2006 6:56am

The holiday season is like a game of hide and seek; Men are hiding and hoping to just make it through the season alive, according to a survey conducted for shopping search site Shopzilla.

It says nearly half of the men surveyed feel anxious, inadequate, confused or aggravated about buying holiday gifts. In contrast, women are chomping at the bit to start their holiday shopping, the survey says. In fact, more than half of women are excited about buying holiday gifts (56 percent).

Women are more likely than men to shop for holiday gifts all year long (36 percent of the women surveyed shop throughout the year compared to 22 percent of men), while men are more likely to shop at the last minute (15 percent of men shop the week of the holiday through 24 hours in advance of the holiday compared to 5 percent of women), according to the survey.

However, men are more likely than women to drop serious cash on their significant others. Over a third (36 percent) of men spend more than $250 on gifts for their significant other compared to 20 percent of women, the survey says. Sixteen percent of men spend more than $500 on these gifts.

More than half (56 percent) of women have more than 10 people on their gift lists compared to 31 percent of men (up from last year with 50 percent of women having more than 10 on their list). While nearly all online shoppers have family members on their holiday list (98 percent), women are more likely to have other individuals on their list, for example, 75 percent of women report friends versus 58 percent of men. Co-workers, neighbors and service professionals are also more likely to be on the holiday lists of women.

The study, conducted by BizRate Research, a division of Shopzilla Inc. of Los Angeles, was based on a point-of-sale survey with a sample of 1,905 online buyers from Sept. 18 through Sept. 25.