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Shopper Profiles: Some holiday gift-shopping advice from American Demographics magazine, courtesy of Stephanie D. Greene, marketing director at Westminster Mall: Before shopping, find out what kind of shopper you are.

Pleasers buy presents that are designed to please friends and family. Providers buy gifts that are useful--jeans for the kids or an appliance for the homemaker. Compensators hope that their gifts make up for previous deficiencies, while socializers pick gifts they think the receiver should have. Acknowledgers use gifts to fulfill real or imagined obligations to co-workers, distant relatives and business contacts.

What if you don’t fit any of American Demographics’ categories?

It could be that you’re an avoider: someone who opts not to give gifts.

“By not giving gifts, the avoider sends a clear message that she or he does not want any relationship at all” with would-be gift recipients, Greene said. “That may be suitable in some situations, but a chronic avoider is likely to wind up unhappy and alone during the festive holiday season.”