03 December 2012, 031212, Christmas spending
Q. Thinking about Christmas spending – compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?
|
Dec 08 |
Dec 09 |
Nov 10 |
Dec 11 |
Dec 12 |
|
| Will spend more |
3% |
11% |
10% |
13% |
14% |
| Will be spending less |
38% |
38% |
38% |
40% |
24% |
| Spend much the same |
55% |
47% |
48% |
44% |
58% |
| Don’t know |
5% |
4% |
5% |
3% |
3% |
14% say they will spend more on gifts at Christmas this year, 24% will spend less and 58% much the same.
Compared to last year, those spending less has declined by 16% and those spending about the same increased 14%.
21% of those aged under 35 say they will spend more, 60% of those aged 35-54 will spend much the same and 69% of those aged 55+ will spend much the same. There is no significant relationship between changes in spending and income.
03 December 2012, 031212, Christmas spending, online retail, online shopping
Q. How much of your Christmas gift shopping do you expect you will be doing online?
| All or most of it |
4% |
| A bit more than half |
9% |
| About half |
12% |
| A bit less than half |
13% |
| Not much |
32% |
| None of it |
20% |
| Won’t be buying Christmas gifts |
5% |
| Don’t know |
5% |
25% say they will be doing at least half their Christmas gift shopping online and 70% will be doing at least some online.
35% of those aged under 45 say they will be doing at least half their shopping online compared to 16% of those aged 45+.
Christmas, Christmas gifts, Christmas spending, income, personal finances, spending and income
Q. And now about Christmas spending – compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | Nov 10 | Dec 11 | |
| Will spend more | 3% | 11% | 10% | 13% |
| Will be spending less | 38% | 38% | 38% | 40% |
| Spend much the same | 55% | 47% | 48% | 44% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% | 5% | 3% |
Views about spending on gifts at Christmas remain similar to last year’s. 13% say they will spend more (up 3%), 40% spend less (up 2%) and 44% much the same (down 4%).
23% of those aged under 35 say they will spend more, 46% of those aged 35-44 will spend less and 56% of those aged 55+ will spend much the same. There is no significant relationship between changes in spending and income.
Christmas, Christmas spending, credit, Credit Card Debt, Credit Cards, credit rating, debt, finances, income
Q. How much of your Christmas spending do you put on your credit cards?
| All or most of it | 23% |
| A bit more than half | 7% |
| About half | 9% |
| A bit less than half | 5% |
| Not much | 17% |
| None of it | 37% |
| Don’t know | 3% |
39% say they will put at least half their Christmas spending on credit cards – and a further 22% will put some spending on their credit cards.
Those most likely to use credit cards for at least half their spending were aged 25-34 (49%) and those least likely to use credit cards for Christmas spending were aged 18-24 (22%). Those on higher incomes were much more likely to use their credit cards for Christmas spending – 54% of those on incomes over $1,600pw said they would put at least half on credit cards compared to only 18% of those on incomes under $600pw.
41% of those who say they are very concerned about their level of credit card debt and 54% of those who are somewhat concerned say they will put at least half their Christmas spending on credit cards.
Christmas, Christmas debt, Christmas spending, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, spending and income
Q. And now about Christmas spending – compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | Nov 10 | |
| Will spend more | 3% | 11% | 10% |
| Will be spending less | 38% | 38% | 38% |
| Spend much the same | 55% | 47% | 48% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% | 5% |
Views about spending on gifts at Christmas remain much the same as last year. 10% say they will spend more, 38% spend less and 48% much the same.
16% of those aged under 35 say they will spend more, 46% of those aged 35-44 will spend less and 59% of those aged 55+ will spend much the same. There is no significant relationship between changes in spending and income.
Christmas, Christmas spending, workplace
Q. Which of the following situations applies to your workplace regarding staff Christmas functions?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | |
| My employer is paying for a staff Christmas function much the same as previous years | 45% | 44% |
| My employer doesn’t usually pay for a staff Christmas function | 37% | 31% |
| My employer usually pays for a staff Christmas function but this year it will be smaller | 10% | 12% |
| My employer usually pays for a staff Christmas function but it has been cancelled this year | 6% | 3% |
| My employer will be spending more than usual on a staff Christmas function | 2% | 1% |
| Don’t know | * | 9% |
N=637. Those that selected ‘not an employee’ have been removed from the above table.
Results are reasonably similar to those obtained last year when we asked the same question.
44% of people surveyed indicated that their employer is paying for a staff Christmas function much the same as previous year, 31% have an employer that doesn’t usually pay for a staff Christmas function and 12% said that their employer paid for Christmas lunch will be smaller this year.
Results were similar across most demographic groups. Comments »
Q. And compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | |
| Will spend more | 3% | 11% |
| Will be spending less | 38% | 38% |
| Spend much the same | 55% | 47% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% |
11% of people indicated they will spend more on Christmas presents this year than they spent last year, 38% think they will spend less and 47% will spend much the same.
Expectation that more will be spent on Christmas gifts this year decreases with age – 21% of 18 – 24 year olds expect to spend more compared with 5% of those aged 55 years and over. 56% of those aged 55 years and over expect to spend much the same.
People earning $1000 – $1600 per week were slightly more likely than those in other income groups to indicate they will spend more this year on Christmas gifts (14%), while people earning $1600 + per week were more likely to spend much the same as last year.
People’s expectation that they will spend more this year than they spent last has increased eight percentage points since we last asked this question in 2008. Comments »