While the Christmas season has traditionally been a time of joy, our market research panel, BizKnowledge, has some interesting survey results that indicate that might no longer be the case.
A small 25% of respondents strongly agreed that the holidays are a happy time of year, but sadly almost 40% felt the holidays were not a happy time of year, or they felt indifferent.
The reason why so many feel the holiday season to not be a happy time of year is beyond the scope of our survey, though we speculate it could be a result of economic worries, loneliness, travel issues, bereavement, or the pressure to enjoy Christmas.
67% of respondents indicated they enjoy spending time with friends and family the most during the holiday season. So, it would be understandable that those unable to spend the holidays with loved ones would not find it to be a happy time.
Money worries could certainly bring a downer to the holiday period. With inflation and the rising prices in stores, a dollar spent today will get you a lot less than a dollar spent last year. Despite that, 44% of people intend to still be spending the same amount on gifts this year compared to last year, meaning their money will get them significantly less.
Perhaps a reflection of the economic times and having to make financial cutbacks is that 26% of people will be spending less this year on gifts. 22% indicated that they will be spending more this year, though this may be out of necessity to match inflation rather than an indication of financial prosperity. 28% of people said they plan to spend between $250 and $500 on gifts this holiday season, with 8% not planning on spending any money on gifts at all.
24% of respondents said they begin purchasing gifts on Black Friday, with 25% starting in early December. These figures might indicate that the lure of Black Friday deals isn’t as appealing as it once was. It also tells us that we can still expect there to be a fair number of last-minute shoppers as 8% of respondents purchase gifts the week of Christmas Day!
A less surprising result is that 47% of people dislike snow and cold weather. But interestingly, 20% listed Christmas music as the thing they like the least about the holiday season! Maybe it’s time to finally update that Christmas music playlist!
