Grads Trump Dads in June as Gift Recipients
AUSTIN, Texas -- When it comes to gifts for new graduates, a check or cash is best, a new survey has found. But when it comes to spending around graduation time, Father's Day seems to take a back seat.
Fully 56% of respondents to a RetailMeNot.com survay say giving new graduates a check or cash is ideal and 19% say the same about gift cards or gift certificates. At the same time, 58% say they spend more on Mother's Day gifts than their partners spend on them on Father's Day.
On average, respondents think $111 is an appropriate amount to spend on a gift for a high school grad, $243 for a college grad and $256 for someone finishing graduate school.
Respondents who are parents of children beginning to deal with school-related debt say that the average amount their children owed when school was over was $13,600. Respondents who had some kind of school debt themselves after graduating reported just over $14,000 on average. "Many of us know individuals who are graduating during this time of year, so giving cash or a gift card gives recent grads the flexibility to make the purchases they need, especially if they have student loans to pay off," said John Faith, RetailMeNot resident couponing dad.
When it comes to fathers, 58% of the respondents feel that they spend more money on their partners for Mother's Day than their significant others typically spend on them for Father's Day. However, fathers might benefit more than mothers on their special days when their children are buying the gifts; 23% of consumers surveyed typically spend more than $61 on a gift for Mom while 31% spend more than $61 on Dad. Just over half of respondents will spend up to $60 on a gift for dad, while 16% typically don’t remember Dad with a gift.
While Apple products top the phone and tablet categories, Apple lags as the preferred laptop. Fully 82% of consumers surveyed prefer PCs over Macs. The most desired smartphone is an iPhone with 37% choosing Apple. Other popular phones are Android (24%), Samsung Galaxy (20%), Windows (8%) and Blackberry Z10/D10 (4%).
The most desired tablet is an iPad with 46% preferring this brand. Other brands are Kindle Fire (17%), Samsung Galaxy Tab (17%), Microsoft Surface (8%) and Google Nexus (5%).
Other key survey findings:
- 64% of respondents believe that a college degree is still a good investment, even if it puts students in debt.
- 78% say that they would pay their child's college tuition if they could afford it; 65% feel the same way about graduate school.
- Dad's "do not gift" list includes ties (32%), T-shirts with dad-related slogans (27%) and coffee mugs (19%).
- Family quality time would be a more appreciated gift for fathers ages 50 and older than it would for 18 to 49-year-old fathers (38% versus 18%).
- iPhones are the most popular among 18 to 34-year-olds (48%) versus those who are 35 and older (31%) and among Westerners (41%) versus those in other regions (35%).
RetailMeNot.com is the largest digital coupon website in the United States.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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