An online poll conducted in April by ShopLocal, a multi-channel shopping Web site, revealed that while 18 percent of moms were unhappy with their Mother's Day gifts, a whopping 67 percent of dads echoed the same sentiment about their Father's Day gifts.

In response to the poll results, ShopLocal's Merchandising Manager Eva Yusa (also known as Eva the Shopping Diva™) offered a viable reason for the disparaging difference. She stated that dads are less likely to tell someone what they want. But the responsibility rests on our shoulders, too. Here are a few contributing factors that turn us into negligent Father's Day gift-givers:

·         Retailers don't promote Father's Day with an equal amount of fanfare. Because statistics show that consumers spend less on Father's Day than on Mother's Day, retailers feel they won't net positive ROI from increased sales and marketing efforts.

·         It's assumed that men, compared to women, aren't emotionally vested in the receiving end of the gift-giving process. Obviously, this perception is incorrect. If men were really indifferent, so many of the men polled wouldn't have expressed dissatisfaction with their gifts.

·         Without a wish list, gift-giving can be a challenge. But if we engage in more conversations with our dads, perhaps we can pick up hints and give gifts that are more in line with their personalities and interests.

Remember: Father's Day is Sunday, June 17^th. Let’s set our sights and wallets on dad.