Every Christmas men struggle with the last-minute rush to find the perfect present for their partner.

每年圣诞节，直到最后一刻，男人们还会为给自己的伴侣寻找完美的礼物而烦恼。

Yet had they listened a little more closely to their wife or girlfriend in the run-up to the big day, they could have saved themselves a lot of stress.

Experts have identified four hinting styles that women use to try to ensure their favoured choice is placed under the Christmas tree.

The problem is, they found, men are oblivious¹ to（不在意的） the signals – four out of five miss the hints.

The study broke down what it dubbed²（被称为） ‘adventising’. Most women (56 per cent) were found to be ‘pepper-hinters’ or ‘present pointers’. Next came ‘Chinese whisperers’ followed by ‘careless listers’.

But despite all these tactics（策略，战术） , less than a third of men picked up any of the subliminal³（潜意识的） messages – compared with more than half of women.

The report comes as it was revealed that more than a third of us have been disappointed by our partner’s choice of presents and one in six is left upset or angry.

Body language expert Professor Geoff Beattie advises women to use heavy verbal tips to their partners to get what they want. He added: ‘Hinting is an important part of everyday social interaction but to do this successfully it is vital that gender⁴ differences are taken into account.

‘Women know what they want and are increasingly turning to “adventising” in order to get it – using clues to advertise to men what they want for Christmas.

‘However, their covert⁵ suggestions can at times fall on deaf ears and men are missing out on a massive two thirds of crucial hints dropped by the ladies in their life.’

For the study, which was commissioned（委任） by Boots, male volunteers watched a video that depicted⁶ a couple chatting in the run-up to Christmas. The film showed the various hinting styles, with most men unable to identify them.

Recent research by the National Autonomous⁷ University of Mexico found that women are more adept⁸ at（熟练于，擅长） shopping than men because they are better at recalling landmarks⁹ – helpful when trying to get back to a dress they may have seen two hours earlier.