Wednesday, December 11, 2002

A story released today by the Taubman Centers Inc. reports that according to a survey conducted by Marketing Research Services Inc. for Taubman Inc., three distinct points stand out about the celebration of the holidays this year:

1) Most people feel they give more gifts than they receive.

2) Men will open their wallets wider than women.

3) Singles prefer relatives to romance.

The survey examined holiday behavior and how it varies by gender, age, marital status and even geographic regions.

Here are some survey highlights:

q Even singles rate relatives over romance for the holidays. When asked to name their ideal holiday companion, both married respondents and singles opted for "a relative" as their top choice.

q Most people (56 percent) feel they give more gifts than they receive, and men are more apt to feel that way.

q Three-quarters of those surveyed say their most costly gift will go to a family member, but men are twice as likely as women to buy their most expensive gift for a romantic interest.

q Young men from 18 to 24 years old are twice as likely as any other group to give their most expensive holiday gift to themselves.

q One person in 10 has their gifts wrapped for them. Singles are 55 percent more likely than married people to have someone wrap their gift for them, and men are more than three times as likely as women to do so.

q Nearly two of every five people will have done most of their gift shopping by Thanksgiving, but nearly one person in ten waits until the week before the holidays to shop.

q Men — especially single men — are procrastinators. Men are more than twice as likely as women to delay their shopping until the week of the holiday, with nearly 18 percent of single men waiting until the final week.

q Men will outspend women on gifts by 14 percent. They say they’ll put $959 into gift shopping compared to the $844 women estimate they’ll spend.

q Nearly a quarter of singles, compared to 40 percent of marrieds, plan to cook the main holiday meal this year.

q Although 64 percent of singles say they will prepare a complete meal from scratch for friends or family some time over the holidays, singles are more than twice as likely as married people to pick up carry-outs when they entertain.

Click here to links to other stories by the Taubman Center Inc.:

http://www.shoplakeforest.com/infodesk/media/504.html

http://www.beverlycenter.com/infodesk/media/512.html

http://www.shopshorthills.com/infodesk/media/501.html