What to Give for Graduation? Circuit City Asks the Experts
* Families Can Stop Guessing About Graduation Gifts * Heads-up Mom & Dad, Your Kids May Want Their Old Rooms Back
RICHMOND, Va., April 24 -- With cap-and-gown season approaching, a new national survey offers guidance for families who want to give graduation gifts that will be useful and appreciated.
More than 2,300 college students nationwide responded to the survey*, which was commissioned by Circuit City Stores, Inc. The consumer electronics retailer surveyed college students because they know first-hand which tech products have contributed the most to their academic success.
Advice for high school graduation gifts:
It appears many families use high school graduation as an occasion to prepare college-bound students for their academic future. Asked when they first started preparing to go to college, 60 percent of the students told the survey they began shopping for tech products before August and 35 percent said they shopped for college electronics in June, or earlier.
Based on their experience, the college students were asked to rank the importance of electronics devices for college-bound high school graduates. Nearly three quarters (72 percent) said the computer is the item that new college students "cannot live without." The cell phone ranked second in the survey; 53 percent rated the cell phone as a "cannot live without" product. Other results:
* Seventy-two percent said a digital camera is somewhat or very important
for college-bound students
* Seventy percent said a DVD player is somewhat or very important for
campus life
* Sixty-six percent rated television as a somewhat or very important
device for a college-bound student
Asked about their post-college plans, 52 percent said they plan to live on their own; 22 percent said they will live with at least one roommate; 13 percent said they will move back home. Interestingly, 14 percent of male college students plan to move back in with mom dad, compared to 11 percent of female students who chose that option.
Advice for college graduation gifts:
Considering potential gifts they would like to receive for graduation, college students offered the following rankings:
* Forty percent chose a new computer
* Ten percent said they would prefer a new digital camera
* Ten percent chose a new PDA (handheld computer)
* Nine percent opted for a new TV
* Other tech items noted as desired graduation gifts included cell phones,
MP3 players and video game consoles
* Seven percent of college students said they would not want a tech gift
for graduation
* Fifty-seven percent said they would like a gift card; 21 percent would
prefer a gift and 22 percent expressed no preference
Circuit City offers desktop and notebook computers from leading brands Acer, Avaratec, Compaq, Gateway, HP, Sony and Toshiba. Prices start at less than $400.00 for desktop computers and less than $800.00 for notebook computers.
*The Circuit City "Just what I needed for graduation" survey was commissioned by Circuit City Stores, Inc. and conducted on the Internet by Decision Analyst, Inc. of Arlington, Texas. The margin of error is plus-or- minus 2%.
About Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics. The domestic segment operates through 627 Superstores and seven other locations in 158 U.S. markets. The international segment operates through more than 950 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Circuit City also operates Web sites at http://www.circuitcity.com/ and at http://www.thesourcecc.ca/.
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