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Examines the underlying determinants of in‐store information search for a Christmas clothing gift, specifically focusing on gender differences. Two non‐personal (general and specific) and one personal (sales clerk assistance) in‐store information search domains were obtained from the results of a survey of actual consumers carried out shortly after the Christmas season. Consistent with the predictions of the selectivity model, females appeared to comprehensively acquire in‐store information, whereas males appeared to heuristically limit their search to a smaller subset of in‐store information. More specifically, females scored significantly higher than males on indices of both general and specific information search. Females, compared to males, were also found to start Christmas shopping much earlier, purchase more gifts, and embark on a greater number of shopping trips. Other observed gender differences are discussed.

With evolutionary psychology used as the theoretical framework, two aspects of gift giving among young adults are investigated: (a) sex differences in motives for giving gifts to a romantic partner, and (b) the allocation of gift expenditures among various relations, including romantic partners, close friends, close kin, and distant kin members. As per the evolved sex differences in mating strategies, it is proposed and found that men report tactical motives for giving gifts to their romantic partners more frequently than women. Also, there are no sex differences in situational motives for giving gifts. In addition, women are aware that men use tactical motives more often; whereas men think that these motives are employed equally by both sexes. With regard to gift expenditures it is found that, for kin members, the amount spent on gifts increases with the genetic relatedness (r value) of the particular kin. When all relations (kin and nonkin members) are included, the allocation of gift expenditures were the highest to romantic partners, followed by those to close kin members and then to close friends. The latter finding is explained via the importance attached to the evolved psychological mechanisms linked to each of the above relations, namely, reproductive fitness (for partners), nonreproductive fitness (for close kin members), and reciprocal altruism (for close friends).

Evolutionary psychology is an emerging paradigm in psychological science. The current article introduces this framework to marketing scholars and presents evidence for its increasing acceptance within the social science community. As a result, a case is made for the application of evolutionary psychology to marketing, and especially consumer behavior. Application of the evolutionary framework in studying gender-related consumption behavior is illustrated by comparing the evolutionary predictions with results obtained from previous studies, by supporting these predictions with market-level consumption data, and by proposing new hypotheses based on this framework. Also discussed are the potential applications of evolutionary psychology to other consumption-related phenomena like evaluation of endorser attractiveness in advertising, biologically driven consumption choices among women, consumer-experienced emotions in service encounters, and consumption choices as inclusive fitness maximization rather than utility maximization.