Visa Gift Card Survey Shows Spouses and Moms Hardest to Buy for This Holiday Season

Last-Minute Tips Suggest the Best Gifts — and Those to Avoid —

In the Final Days of Shopping

SAN FRANCISCO--(www.AllPayCards.com)--According to a new study commissioned by Visa USA, significant others and moms are the most troublesome on holiday shoppers’ lists, and the majority of Americans (83 percent) expect to spend up to three hours researching, shopping and buying a single gift. As the holiday countdown continues, shoppers will be in a race against time to find the right items for those left on the list.

The omnibus survey, which polled more than 1,000 American adults, reveals trends to help last-minute gift-givers avoid unhappy returns – just in time for the holidays.

According to the survey, gender has something to do with who is the hardest to shop for:

- Nearly half of the men said a spouse or mom would be the most challenging to buy for, compared with only about a quarter (28 percent) of their female counterparts.
- Women had a harder time shopping for children than men did (22 percent of women selected a son, daughter or teen, compared with only 8 percent of men).
- More women versus men said their in-laws were tough to buy for (14 percent of women; 9 percent of men).

The survey also shows that gift-giving can be a huge time investment, with some Americans (11 percent) expecting to spending as much as six or more hours in search of just one gift. With just a few shopping days left, some shoppers are about to make some difficult last-minute decisions.

“Even celebrities can find the holiday season a stressful time of the year when it comes to choosing the perfect gift – and they have assistants to help troll the malls for them,” said Jaye Hersh, Visa’s Chief Shopping Officer and celebrity shopping expert. “If you’re having a hard time picking out the perfect gift, you may want to consider a gift card and give the recipient the option of finding just the right item.”

Last-Minute Shopping Tips — Avoid the Dreaded Holiday-Themed Sweater

The survey reveals helpful insights for those down to the wire on their gift shopping. For one, avoid the holiday-themed sweater. According to the survey, thirty percent of respondents said they would take it back if they were to receive it, making it the least popular gift on a list of possible presents. Other gift items on the to-be-returned list included video games (23 percent), perfume or cologne (18 percent), fuzzy slippers and power tools (tied at 10 percent). The least likely to be returned was a kitchen appliance (6 percent).

For foolproof gifts that please instead of disappoint, Visa Gift cards can provide a quick and appreciated solution. More than half of respondents (56 percent) said they felt regretful that money was wasted when receiving an unwanted gift; 45 percent said they’d feel guilty about returning the gift.

On the contrary, most Americans felt it was not important to suggest how a gift card should be spent (74 percent), reinforcing that the gift of choice – such as giving a Visa Gift card – could be among the best purchases made this shopping season.

Accepted at millions of locations worldwide, the Visa Gift card allows recipients to buy what they want, when they want, wherever Visa is accepted — and unlike cash, checks or gift certificates, Visa Gift cards are covered by Visa’s Zero Liability Policy(a) and can be easily replaced if lost or stolen.

For more information on where to purchase a Visa Gift card, visit www.visa.com/gift.

The 2006 Visa Gift card survey was a nationwide telephone survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation with 1,040 adults as part of its Caravan® omnibus survey service. Interviewing was conducted from December 8 to December 11, 2006.

About Visa

Visa USA is the nation's leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payment system - members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,432 member financial institutions, more than 510 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.6 trillion in transactions with unparalleled reliability.

Worldwide, cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume.

Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway.

(a)Covers U.S. issued cards only. Visa’s Zero Liability Policy does not apply to commercial credit card or ATM transactions, or PIN transactions not processed by Visa. Notify your financial institution immediately of any fraudulent use. For specific restrictions, limitations and other details, see cardholder agreement or www.visa.com/security.

Contacts
Fleishman-Hillard
Alexa Waltz,
waltza@fleishman.com