Five Reasons Men Love to Leave Christmas Shopping Until the Last Minute
I’m not a fan of gender stereotypes but there does seem to be some universal truth in the idea that just like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Jingle All The Way, men are more likely to leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute.
This year, a survey by the Australian National Retailers Association found that men are two and a half times more likely than women to do their shopping in the last few days before Christmas.
In the UK, one major department store claims they know when men start Christmas shopping each year because sales of the country’s best-selling festive perfume, Chanel No. 5, start rising. According to Ruth Attridge of the retailer Debenhams:
It’s like a starting pistol going off. As soon as we see sales of Chanel No. 5 rising, we know that men have begun the race to get their Christmas shopping done. Men have a totally different way of shopping. They just want to get into store, pick up the items they want as quickly as possible – and leave.
So, bearing in mind that as with all gender stereotypes, this won’t apply to all men or women—here’s a list of five possible reasons why men are more likely on average to start shopping for Christmas presents later than women:
1. Men get less satisfaction out of gift buying
2. Men don’t want to buy the gifts that women want to receive
3. The thought of buying and receiving presents makes us anxious
4. Gift buying isn’t men’s way of expressing love
5: Men love the challenge of a one-day hunt (my favorite)
See the details at The GoodManProject.
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When do you shop?
I'll make this quick. I'm on the way to the mall! No, not really, but I do have to go fight my way through the grocery store for a few more things. I say "fight my way" because I think many wives ask their husbands to make a stop for groceries (since they're out buying Christmas gifts, anyway). These "amateur shoppers" often block the isles with their carts, as they stand with a blank stare at the products on the shelves. As lengthy a gaze as they can make, though, they're just never going to find that can of olives they were told to get by standing in the produce section. It sort of makes sense, I guess, but....Why can't they just ask for directions?!? A disproportional number of them seem to be older gentlemen, who maybe should have learned something about how to shop by now, but are maybe just naturally slow and easily confused.
ReplyDeleteI just had to add my gender stereotype two cents!:-) Merry Christmas, everyone!
Hi Connie,
ReplyDeleteOK - I just got back from the mall (last minute cards) and ran by the grocery store on the way home. I had to wait for a parking place and ended up staking an older gentlemen that could not find his car.
HaHa! I'm so glad that I'll never be seen as an older gentleman like that. So far, I'm barely making people believe I'm not much more than an older dumb blonde woman, though (just so they get the "woman" part right, I don't care about the rest).
DeleteMen are such Putzes. If I were a woman, I know I would be a lesbian...
ReplyDeleteThe big issue about gifting that MEN and some women dont get it is the issue of 'intimacy'. Do you REALLY know this person? Sure, you sleep with this person, but do you really know this person well enough to know her/his taste and desires in material goods?
Here comes 'gift season' and what to get her/him? No Clue.
Sooooo, here comes the stress, anxiety and procrastination as the setup for a real shitty holiday season.
Know yourself, know your lover, act from the heart...
You may be 'stone cold broke' come Christmastime, but just act from the heart.
Velma
Velma
Well said!
Delete