Quickie: How Gender Influences Last-Minute Christmas Shopping

We all do it, just for different psychological reasons

Men have the reputation for doing things at the last minute — and every Christmas Eve, we expect the malls to be filled with men buying presents for their loved ones at the last possible minute. While this is certainly the case, women will be doing some last-minute shopping of their own — but for different reasons.

“On December 24, you’re just as likely to see a woman as a man traipsing through the disheveled aisles of a department store.”

According to research, chances are the men you find in the mall on Christmas Eve have just begun their holiday shopping, while on the other hand, the women are finishing up their shopping and looking for that perfect thing to add to the presents already underneath the tree.

“On December 24, you’re just as likely to see a woman as a man traipsing through the disheveled aisles of a department store. Men are going to be just starting shopping. They’re in a panic. What size does she wear? Does she like blue?” said researcher Erik Gordon. “A woman is there shopping for the 56th time, still trying to find the solar-powered remote control her husband mentioned in his sleep six months ago. Women will start shopping in August and have the gifts wrapped by October, whereas men won’t even think about shopping until after the college football season is over.”

Why does this happen? Gordon says that it is, in part, because women use early Christmas shopping to cope with all of the stresses in their lives.

“Women dealt with the time crunch by getting more organized,” he said. “Men — we’re never going to change. When we’re living on Mars under glass domes someday, men will still be getting on the Earth shuttle December 24 to go Christmas shopping.”

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Source:

Women As Likely As Men To Last-Minute Christmas Shop, Survey Shows. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/12/981218142356.htm