The Way to a Woman's Heart: Electronics

Guys, forget about roses and chocolates. If you really want to win the heart of the woman in your life you should think about buying her electronics instead of traditional gifts for Valentine's Day, according to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The study found that women's interest in technology has increased in the last five years, with eight in 10 women now expressing an interest in consumer electronics (CE) products. Nearly half of those (41 percent) said they were "very interested" in CE. This is an increase of 10 percentage points over the previous study in 2007.

Though men continue to outspend women on overall CE purchases, the gap between genders is shrinking, the study found. On average, men spent $728 on CE purchases in the past 12 months while women spent $667 during the same period, a difference of $61. In the previous study the CE spending gap was closer to $200.

Women also exert a significant amount of influence on CE purchases. Six out of 10 women initiate or are involved in CE product purchase decisions.

Women, however, are far less likely to claim ownership of most CE products. The study shows that women are more likely to consider CE products as "household" products, meaning they consider ownership of the device, such as TVs and DVD players, to be shared with a spouse, partner, roommate or child. But when it comes to newer and mobile technologies, such as e-readers, notebook computers and smartphones, women were more likely than men to claim sole ownership.

"This Valentine's Day, the way to a woman's heart just might be through electronics," said Jessica Boothe, the CEA manager of strategic research. "Women want technology more than ever and they view electronics as very personal devices that can be toted around and customized with private information."

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.