US Adults Spending Less This Holiday Season
A recent survey shows that spending in the US around the holidays is down, indicating that adults are leaning towards saving versus spending.
The survey, conducted by New York-based Zogby International, asked more than 3,000 US adults about their spending plans during the holidays and was conducted from December 8th through the 10th. The results aren't good for retailrs as 49 percent said that they and their families plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year. Additionally, 9 percent said they plan to spend more than they did in 2008, and another 40 percent say they plan to spend the same amount.
Other results that point to a bad season for retailers include: Some of the more interesting data points from the survey included:
• 58 percent said that they plan to spend $500 or less in total holiday spending;
• 52 percent said that they have set specific holiday shopping budgets. Of those who have set budgets, 92 percent said that they have been successful staying within their pre-set spending limits;
• 72 percent of those with budgets say they have not purchased a gift because it would put them over budget;
• 28 percent said they set aside funds during the year for holiday gift buying;
• When given the hypothetical of what they would do if they found the perfect gift for someone, but it would put them over budget, 40 percent of those with budgets said they would buy it anyway, 35 percent would pass on another gift to stay on budget and 20 percent would return another already purchased gift to make room for the new gift.
A sampling of Zogby International’s online panel, which is representative of adult Americans, was invited to participate. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, and education to more accurately reflect the population. The margin of error is +/- 1.8 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.
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