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Gift buying survey

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

According to a new study conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of eBay Canada, the world's online marketplace, men are the likely ones to get 'scrooged' this holiday season. Naughty or nice, men (31 per cent) are more likely than women (13 per cent) to spend the most on their spouse or partner. And, if that wasn't bad enough, Dad is also at the bottom of the heap among families who are making a list and checking it twice - only one per cent of respondents say that they would spend the most money on the family patriarch. Not only are citizens of Atlantic Canada the most polite when it comes to gift giving, they're also the most generous when thinking of the person they expect to spend the most on. According to the survey, Atlantic Canadians will buy this person gifts totaling an average of $485.43. This is over 50 per cent more than their frugal friends in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where the average person plans to spend only $273.40 on that special someone. Four in ten (43 per cent) Canadians expect to spend the most money on children this holiday season. Women (54 per cent) are more likely than men (33 per cent) to spend the most on children. Atlantic Canadians lead the way again with 55 percent of respondents the most likely to expect to spend the most on children followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (50 per cent), Quebec (46 per cent), Ontario (41 per cent), British Columbia (40 per cent), and Alberta (39 per cent). All I Want For Christmas Is... Perhaps it's the cold weather inspiring Canada's number one gift choice this year, or could it be that Canadians are just fashionable? Asked what they want most this year, the most popular response was clothes (12 per cent) - good news for those doing the shopping - 25 per cent of whom said that clothes were what they planned to buy the person they expect to spend the most on. Other top holiday wishes include electronics (ten per cent), money (nine per cent), jewellery (six per cent), vacations (five per cent) and a car (five per cent).

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