Survey Shows When it Comes to Holiday Gift Giving, Mom Knows Best

by Donna Beadle

(FeatureSource) Fruitcake, homemade sweaters, socks; we’ve all been on the receiving end of a less-than-perfect holiday gift. According to a survey by Sam Goody stores, mom probably wasn’t the sender, but Aunt Gertrude could have been. Forty-seven percent of survey respondents stated mom knows best when it comes to gift giving, while 21 percent said their aunts’ gifts were less than stellar.

The National Retail Federation estimates between four to six percent of gifts will be returned this holiday season. In the spirit of Sam Goody’s Bad-Gift Boycott, a quest to rid the world of bad holiday gifts, a survey was conducted about all aspects of gift giving and receiving.

Participants were asked about the gift they would dread receiving. Thirty-four percent of respondents said they dread opening homemade clothing, followed closely by cheap cologne/perfume (30 percent) and fruitcake (25 percent). To help bad-gift givers, Sam Goody also asked what gifts were on the participants’ gift lists. Forty-six percent said DVDs, 24 percent wanted video games while 17 percent would rather decide for themselves with gift cards.

Other interesting findings include:

When it comes to family members, parents are the hardest to shop for. Thirty-three percent of respondents didn’t know what dad would want this holiday season, and 24 percent said shopping for mom is always a challenge.

Forty-one percent of survey respondents said young adults (19-25 years) were the most difficult age group to purchase gifts for. Teens (13-18 years) were the second hardest at 28 percent, followed by tweens (10-12 years) at 23 percent. Children under 10 were considered the easiest group.

To help bad-gift givers and receivers this holiday season, Sam Goody created “Sam Goody’s Bad-Gift Givers Anonymous,” www.badgiftboycott.com, to help combat bad-gift giver syndrome. Bad-gift givers can find information on how to kick the habit along with a list of great gifts to help them make better choices. For bad-gift victims, the site has information on local “Sam Goody Bad-Gift Boycotts,” a “Bad-Gift Hall of Shame,” sarcastic responses to use when a bad gift is received, and a national sweepstakes to find the America’s worst gift.

“Rather than focus on the standard top 10 list of gifts, Sam Goody developed an innovative twist to holiday gift giving,” said Brian Miller, vice president of Marketing for Musicland. “The Bad-Gift Boycott Web site is full of tips to help bad-gift givers mend their ways and bad-gift receivers to cope with undesirable gifts.”

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