• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 5, 2006

According to a new survey by VoiceQuilt, Trends in Gift Giving, 47 percent of all U.S. women buy gifts for 10 or more occasions throughout the year, 25 percent say they gave gifts for 15 or more events, and nineteen percent say they gave gifts for 20 or more occasions in the last 12 months.

Hope Flammer, chief executive officer and founder of VoiceQuilt, said "What I find so fascinating is... the fact that a non-occasion like 'just because,' is such a popular occurrence for gift giving among the majority of women..."

The gift giving occasions in the last year were

• Birthdays (95 percent)
• Religious holidays (88 percent)
• Mother's day (74 percent)
• Valentine's Day (70 percent)
• Father's day (66 percent)

Sixty-five percent say they gave gifts over the last year "just because" and eighty-eight percent of those say they gave between one and five gifts in the last year.

• Women strive to give gifts that are more thoughtful, personal and one-of-a-kind. 92 percent of U.S. women say the most important attribute of the gifts they give is that the gift is sentimental
• 90 percent say the gift should be something the recipient asked for
• 88 percent say it should be functional
• 83 percent say original
• 79 percent feel it should be "just for them"

U.S. women admit a variety of motivations behind gift giving. They said:

• To say I love you (62 percent),
• Because the occasion required a gift (58 percent)
• To surprise the gift receiver (52 percent)
• Because they loved giving gifts" (48 percent)
• To thank someone (43 percent)
• Because it was the right thing to do (37 percent)
• Because... I needed to reciprocate (14 percent)
• To say I'm sorry (5 percent)
• Felt peer pressured (4 percent)
• To... curry favor with someone (1 percent)

69 percent of women nationwide purchased gifts online in the last 12 months

• Fifty percent of women say they purchased one to five gifts online in the last year
• Thirteen percent say they purchased six to 10 gifts online in the last year
• Three percent say they purchased 11 to 19 gifts online in the last year
• Four percent say they purchased 20 or more gifts online in the last year
• The vast majority of U.S. women spend less than $50 on gift giving regardless of the occasion.

For more information, charts and graphs, please visit here.