Editor's note: This article appeared in the May 28, 2008, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.

 

Seventy-two percent of Americans said they expected to buy a Mother's Day gift and 58 percent said they will buy a Father's Day gift this year, but the median amount spent on gifts for each parent was the same: $44, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, commissioned by Westlake Village, Calif., pricing information company PriceRunner.com and executed by Amplitude Research, Boca Raton, Fla.

 

Although the proportion that expected to buy a Mother's Day gift was similar among females (72 percent) and males (71 percent), the number expecting to buy a Father's Day gift was noticeably higher among females (67 percent vs. 49 percent of males). This held true not only for the total sample, but also within different age groups.

 

Of respondents who planned on buying gifts for Mother's Day, 37.7 percent said they planned to spend between $25 and $49, while 21 percent said they planned to purchase a Mother's Day gift in the range of $50 to $74. Just over 19 percent planned to buy a gift that costs between $10 and $24, and 12 percent said they planned to spend $100 or more. Nine percent responded that they intended to shell out between $75 and $99 for a Mother's Day gift.

 

Of respondents who plan to purchase Father's Day gifts, 39.6 percent said they plan to spend between $25 and $49; 21.6 percent said they would buy a gift ranging in cost from $50 to $74; a little over 17 percent said they would be purchasing a gift costing between $10 and $24; 10 percent said they would spend $100 or more; and just over 9 percent said they plan to spend between $75 and $99.