eBay unveiled the results of a new national survey on the psychology of gifting, (“shopology”), yesterday. It revealed that the majority of American women identify with one of four types of holiday gifters: Emotional, Practical, Convenience or Last Minute. Of the archetypes, more women consider themselves to be Emotional Gifters, whose shopping behaviors focus on planning, personalization and finding unique, thoughtful gifts for everyone on their list.

Major holiday gifter profiles:

* The Emotional Gifter: 42% of women identify with this profile and buy unique, thoughtful gifts for each person on their list to show they really understand that person, plan ahead, wrap their own presents and take the time to hand-write a card.

* The Practical Gifter: Nearly a quarter, 21%, of women consider themselves to be practical gifters, often giving gift cards or cash, and prefer to allow the recipient to make the decision about what’s best to buy.

* The Convenience Gifter: 16% of women identify with this profile, approaching holiday shopping with maximum efficiency, getting shopping done at one store or on one website. These women feel holiday shopping is something that needs to get done, rather than a joyful experience.

* The Last Minute Gifter: 13% of women consider themselves to be last minute gifters, typically buying gifts close to the holidays. They don’t often plan ahead and hurry through the mall at the last minute.

I don’t know about you but until recently I was definitely categorized as a “Last Minute Gifter”. From 1993 to 1997 I shopped on Christmas Eve for 5 consecutive years (this stopped when I was mugged in the parking lot on Christmas Eve in 1997… but that’s a story for another time). I’ve since become more of a combo of The Emotional Gifter and The Convenience Gifter. For example, this year, I’ve conducted all of my Christmas shopping already – all of it with each recipient very carefully chosen for and all of it exclusively on eBay.com.

What kind of shopper are you? (More …)