Father's Day Fail: Kids Don't Always Give Dads Their Due

- Fewer people purchase gifts for Dad on Father's Day than they do for Mom on Mother's Day

- Next to wanting to spend time with family (46%), gift cards (37%), clothing (26%) and large electronics (25%) top dad's wish list for Father's Day

- If Americans had to choose a TV dad they would most want as their father, 1 in 5 would choose Uncle Jesse Katsopolis from Full House

News provided by

RetailMeNot.com

Jun 09, 2015, 07:00 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Once again this year, fathers are not getting the recognition they deserve on their big day. According to a recent survey by RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com), a leading digital offers destination that helps consumers save money, only 73% of people plan to purchase a gift for Dad this year, compared to the 83% who purchased Mother's Day gifts for Mom. Additionally, shoppers who do plan to buy gifts for these holidays will spend significantly less money on Father's Day gifts than they did on Mother's Day gifts—$57 versus $85 respectively!

"Father's Day falls during an expensive time of year for many people. Wedding season, vacation plans and entertaining kids during summer break can put additional strains on our wallets in June," says Trae Bodge, senior editor for RetailMeNot.com. "However, you can still get a thoughtful gift for Dad without breaking the bank by taking advantage of the sales and coupons that are available during this time of year. The biggest sales on tools, clothing and sporting goods usually pop up about two weeks prior to the holiday."

What Dad Wants

More than 2 in 3 dads (67%) say they shop less for themselves now compared to before they had kids, so the perfect gift may be one that allows Dad to buy something for himself! In fact, nearly 2 in 5 (37%) dads want gift cards this Father's Day. Other gifts on dads' wish lists include clothing (26%), large electronics (25%) and new gadgets (23%). While gift cards and gadgets are great, close to 1 in 2 (46%) dads say that time with their family is one of the things they'd want most for Father's Day.

To obtain additional gift inspiration, RetailMeNot asked dads what they currently do to treat themselves on a regular basis. More than 1 in 2 dads say they treat themselves to a movie (51%) or a nice dinner (51%) at least once a month, but far fewer purchase items, such as new clothing (36%), shoes (25%) or home goods/tools (15%). Hint: Consumers should seize the opportunity to buy Dad something he doesn't often treat himself to.

Day in the Life of Dad

Over the years, fathers have been depicted in a variety of ways on television and in movies, changing the perception of what it means to be a dad. If Americans had to choose a TV dad they would most want as their fathers, 1 in 5 (20%) Americans would choose Uncle Jesse Katsopolis from Full House, while close to 1 in 6 (13%) would opt for Phil Dunphy from Modern Family. Men are twice as likely as women to want Ned Stark from Game of Thrones to play dad in their lives (10% vs. 5%).

While these TV dads seem to have a lot of time to devote to their family and to explore their own interests, in reality, American dads get very little time to themselves. Nearly 1 in 3 (31%) dads say they have less than five hours a week when they aren't attending to any responsibilities. Yet, if they had an extra hour every week, close to half would most want to spend time with their children (47%) or with their family (47%).

In addition to increased demands on their time, fatherhood impacts men in various ways. Compared to a time when they did not have children, fathers:

Are more financially responsible (71%)
Place more significance on family time (67%)
Get less sleep (61%)
Worry more about the future (61%)
Have less time to do what they really want to be doing (56%)

The Men Behind the Myth

When dads were asked to identify as a type of father, 25% chose "adventure father," one who enjoys the outdoors and likes to travel, and 24% chose "modern father", one who is fashionable and likes gadgets. Almost as many (21%) say they are "household fathers," a dad who is organized and takes care of the home.

To find out which type of dad your father is and what gifts he might like, take this quiz. At the end of the quiz, shoppers can browse the RetailMeNot Father's Day products page, featuring curated gifts at bargain prices for each type of dad.

Survey Methodology

The RetailMeNot May 2015 survey was conducted by Kelton Global between May 12 and May 18, 2015, among 1,006 U.S. residents ages 18 and over, using an e-mail invitation and an online survey. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the entire U.S. population ages 18 and over. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly higher.

About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot, Inc. (http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) operates the world's largest marketplace for digital offers. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers for their favorite retailers and brands. During the 12 months ended March 31, 2015, RetailMeNot, Inc. experienced more than 720 million visits to its websites, and during the three months ended March 31, 2015, monthly mobile unique visitors totaled 18.4 million. In 2014, RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates $4.4 billion in paid retailer sales were attributable to consumer traffic from digital offers in its marketplace. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio includes RetailMeNot.com, the largest digital offer marketplace in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk, the largest digital offers marketplace in the United Kingdom; Deals.com in Germany; Actiepagina.nl, a leading digital offers site in the Netherlands; Bons-de-Reduction.com and Ma-Reduc.com, leading digital offers sites in France; Poulpeo.com, a leading digital offers site with cash back in France; and Deals2Buy.com, a leading digital offers site in North America. RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol "SALE." Investors interested in learning more about the company can visit http://investor.retailmenot.com.