Nov 11, 2008 10:14 am US/Eastern
Poll: Most Plan To Cut Back On Holiday Spending
NEW YORK (CBS News) ―
Retailers may feel a little "Scrooged" this holiday shopping season if a new poll is on the money.
More than three-quarters of those surveyed in
Consumer Reports' annual
Holiday Shopping Poll say they plan to cut back spending this year on gifts, entertaining, decorations, holiday cards, travel and charitable giving.
In a sign of the times, the poll found six percent, roughly 12 million Americans, are still carrying debt from last year's holiday spending.
According to those surveyed, 59 percent said they plan to give fewer gifts this year and nearly half, 49 percent, said they plan to cut back on their travel plans.
For those who plan to cut back on gift giving, 84 percent said they plan on cutting back on buying gifts for themselves; 40 percent said they would be cutting back on gifts given to friends and family and 29 percent said they were going to cut back on giving gifts to co-workers. Good news for Fido though, only 23 percent said they planned to cut back on gifts for their pets.
Despite all the cutbacks and budgeting, most of those who took part in the survey said they were optimistic that this year's holiday would be as enjoyable as last year's; 88 percent said they expect to be at least as happy this year as last year and nearly 30 percent said they expect to be happier.
According to the poll's results, the number one gift that people plan to give this year is clothing. Ironically, clothing was the number one thing people were disappointed in receiving in last year. Overall, 39 percent replied they were disappointed in the clothing items they received last year as gifts. That number jumped to 47 percent when men responded about their disappointment in clothing gifts; socks were the number one most hated gift for men.
The number two gift that poll respondents said they will be buying this holiday season are gift cards (66 percent) followed by toys (62 percent), electronics (47 percent), jewelry (40 percent), pet toys (31 percent) and small appliances (24 percent).
While those planning on giving electronic gifts this year dropped compared to last year, from 53 to 47 percent, electronics remain the number one gift wanted by both men and women. Twenty six percent of men said electronics were the gift they most wanted to receive; with women the percentage was slightly lower at 14 percent. Mp3 players or iPods (18 percent) were the most wanted electronic gift, followed by video games, which fell back last season.
Women said in addition to electronics, they'd like to receive gift cards (14 percent), jewelry (13 percent) and cold hard cash (12 percent).
Speaking of gift cards, they continue to be a popular choice among shoppers, 66 percent said they plan to give gift cards this year, that's up from 62 percent in 2007.
(Consumer Reports)
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