- Katy Bachman, Mediaweek

Mothers are big on conducting research before plunking down the dollars. That's according to results from a new Mindshare Online Research study released Tuesday (Dec. 16) that found that 61 percent of moms research holiday gifts compared to only 48 percent of non-moms.

Moms were also more likely than non-moms to single out customer product reviews or ratings as the most influential source for obtaining holiday gift information, 23 percent versus 12 percent.

Another valuable tool is the Internet with 54 percent of all shoppers surveyed doing the bulk of holiday shopping online.

Overall, women are the family members most likely to handle the holiday shopping--77 percent of women compared to 36 percent for men.  

As expected, 64 percent of all shoppers said they expect to spend less on gifts this year than the previous year and more than three-fourths said they will shop around to find the best prices.

Conducted in December by BuzzBack Market Research, Mindshare's online study was based on a survey of 350 adults.