What Dads Really Want for Father's Day

There appears to be a disconnect between what women want to give the dads in their lives this Father's Day and what those dads would really like, a new survey indicates. While a majority of women thought that tickets to a sporting event would put a smile on Dad's face, it turns out that what would really make pappy happy is a new tablet or smartphone.

In a survey of more than 2,000 American adults conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Ebates.com, a shopping site that offers rebates to members, 60 percent of women said they thought tickets to a sporting event were at the top of men's wish list for Father's Day. In actuality, the majority of men responding (52 percent) said what they really want was a tablet or smartphone.

Tickets to a sporting event would be their third choice, the survey showed.

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Completing the top five gifts American dads would like to receive are a home-cooked meal, which came in second among dads (37 percent), followed by tickets to a sporting event (36 percent), power tools (34 percent), and then a guilt-free weekend with friends (30 percent).

The women saw things a bit differently, placing power tools in the second spot (50 percent) after tickets to a sporting event, followed by a home-cooked meal (46 percent), tablet or smartphone (41 percent) and a guilt-free weekend with friends.

Men were just as clueless when it came to guessing what women wanted for Mother's Day, according to another Ebates survey. While 72 percent of men thought women wanted to receive flowers, the No. 1 gift moms actually wanted was a spa day (48 percent).

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.

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