Turkey digested and the wrap and ribbon recycled, it's time for the Christmas postmortem.
If recent Canadian marketing research bore out, the women in your family bought more gifts than the men, but spent less on them.
While they might not have been filling closets with gifts since October like their female counterparts, men spent an average of 31 per cent more per gift than women, according to market research company NPD, which surveyed 2,134 Canadian consumers this year.
"...The gifts [men] buy for others are considerably more expensive than those bought by women," NPD's Tracey Jarosz said in release, shattering the stereotype of panicked dudes racing to the gas station last minute every Christmas.
Being "early shoppers and sale seekers," women focused on the bargains, landing sales on Christmas gifts 57 per cent of the time. By contrast, men bought at regular price 51 per cent of the time.
According to NPD, women do 76 per cent of the shopping during Christmas and Hanukkah, devoting more than half of their mall time to tracking down something for the men in their lives. Most likely, the result was a sweater, jacket or "practical pair of socks" – accessories men would not otherwise buy themselves, NPD consultants pointed out.
"Among the top five apparel gifting categories for males in the month of December are tops (36 per cent), outerwear (16 per cent), sweats/active bottoms (14 per cent), bottoms (11 per cent) and socks/hosiery (eight per cent). For boys, sleepwear ranks as the number-one apparel gifting category for Christmas and Hanukkah," the release read.
In other words, women love dressing their men. Still, if you find yourself eyeing discounted sweats this Boxing Day in anticipation of next Christmas's bounty, think again: Men who received "poor gifts" from their female partners predicted a curtailed future with them, according to research from the University of British Columbia.
Did any of these findings bear out under your tree this Christmas?
Zosia Bielski