What Men Want?

Every time I want to buy a gift for a man, I am so lost. Be it for my dad, or bro or a friend I just cant decide what’s that perfect gift that I can buy for him. It always feels that it’s so much easier to buy a gift for a woman (you have got so many things to choose from!) and it’s so difficult to think of a gift for a man (you just kind buy him a bunch of roses for his birthday!)
I was not sure if I was the only person (err woman) to think like this. So I got together with a few other women for a brainstorming session – after all gifting was an important part of life and we wanted to feel good at the end of each gifting session. However, more we talked, more we understood that we are not at all helping each other. So “why not ask men directly?” was what came out of our brainstorming.

Smart iDeAS (www.thesmartideas.in), a Market Research & Marketing Consulting Company, has conducted a research, well, just on this subject. They have asked men within the age group of 26 to 44 years in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Colombo, Singapore, London & Sydney (pretty international, huh!) on what they would like to get as gifts. And they got some startling responses. Also, the responses seemed to be quite similar across all the cities making us to believe that men mostly think alike (so, if you are dating a guy from London or Italy, don’t freak out, you can still use this info).
Here is a summary of the research and the gifting ideas from the horses’ (oppss!) mouth:

If you are planning to gift something to The Man in your life and it’s his birthday, this is what he wants – Books, CDs, wrist watch, Scotch, Dinner cooked by you, a holiday planned by you, pen, perfume, i-Pod, or bean bag! So pick your choice… if you wanna laze around at home on his birthday and cuddle up buy him a bean bag, else go by your budget.
Interestingly, for weddings, most of the men said they don’t want anything from their wives. Some said it’s enough if she promises a long life together. But some responses were Books of poems, or articles of emotional value. Now, you can build it up from there.
If it’s an anniversary, most men prefer (from their wife / partner) a bottle of spirits - beer, wine, whisky – you name it. The other popular choices were electronics gadgets or a surprise holiday.

From his friends, he mostly wants books, sports gear, music, party, scotch, chocolate (!), guitar & aftershave for his birthday. So if you are gifting to your male friend, chose a gift based on his hobbies and passions. But of course, a whole night party is always welcome.
For his wedding, be prepared to buy him some home appliances like crockery or electronics kitchen appliances or even home furnishing. See, he is getting ready for new life!
If it’s his anniversary, buy him some computer accessories. Even books, music and spirits are welcome.

There are some other special occasions like say a house warming, or promotion etc. In such cases you can buy him some wall hangings, special collectables like knives or paintings, camera, digital photo frames, etc. Looks like the men has got real good taste.

Between gifts with emotional or utility value, there were almost 50% responses on either side. 70% of the men said they will never want to have cash in place of gifts. 64% said they don’t want the purchase bill in case they need to exchange the gifts later, and only 7% of the respondents said they would prefer to get the bill. When asked, if they would like to be asked by a gifter before hand about what he wants, 68% said that they wouldn’t like that – its much fun with that surprise element in a gift.

So, I guess that gives a fair idea about what men want. So next time onwards if you have problem finding a gift suitable for a man, you know where to look for. Go, make those special moments even more special for him.