Father’s Day Does NOT Receive As Much Attention as it Deserves

Do you feel that Father’s Day gets enough recognition?  Do you even care?

Last month, moms were pampered in honor of Mother’s Day, and next week it’s time to shower dad with gifts/cards/love and appreciation for Father’s Day on Sunday, June 19th. According to a new survey, however, “40 percent of men and 36 percent of women feel Father’s Day doesn’t receive as much attention as it deserves.”

The survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted by independent research firm Toluna and Buy.com, also found that “if money were no object, 41 percent of dads would want a new car as a Father’s Day gift.”  Personally, I would want a lavish vacation to South Africa so I can go on Safari (wink, wink…in case my wife reads this post).  However, when asked about ‘realistic’ or more practical gifts, the gift of time ranked the highest as nearly 20 percent of dads want more time with the family.  Absolutely, spending time with my family is how I plan to spend Father’s day this year!

As with any independent research study, we would be able to shoot holes in the findings, find flaws with the population in the study, or even find challenges with the questions asked (see methodology below)…so, take these results with a grain of salt…but, I still found it interesting.

Some additional research findings from the Buy.com survey that may be of interest to you:

• if money were no object for a father’s day gift, 15% would want a boat or yacht
• When asked which “realistic” gifts were most desired, the gift of time ranked the highest – 20 percent of dads want more time with family, while other most-wanted gifts included a laptop/netbook/computer (12 percent), followed by a sports-related item (11 percent)
• 50 percent of dads would love a celebrity actress to deliver their gift
• 16 percent of respondents who described dad as “sociable and liked by everyone”
• Finally, 13 percent of Americans don’t usually give anything at all for Father’s Day

Survey methodology:
Toluna, Inc. fielded the study on behalf of Buy.com on May 18, 2011 via its online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 1,035 adults aged 18 years and older. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online. Data for questions related to online use or behaviors were weighted specifically to the respective “online” populations. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.

Dads – What do you want for father’s day?