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15% of consumers receive unwanted Christmas gifts

Published: 1-Dec-2016

Research shows that 70% of consumers believe that Christmas is too commercialised

Research from ING has found that 15% of people in Europe received at least one gift last year that they didn’t want.

The company also found that 8% of consumers couldn’t remember whether or not they liked the gifts they received last year, meaning that around 81 million unwanted Christmas gifts were given in 2015.

Consumers may want to pause and think about the longer-term effect of their spending, before succumbing to pressure and purchasing expensive gifts that might go to waste.

The findings came as part of the ING International Survey Special Report – Christmas 2016. 13,500 consumers in Europe were asked about what they spend at Christmas.

People in the UK were found to be the least likely to appreciate or remember if they liked their gifts, followed by Italy and Romania.

While an estimated €3.7bn was spent on unwanted presents, one in ten consumers ended up in debt over Christmas. Societal pressure was one source of this, with 42% of people feeling forced to spend money on Christmas festivities.

Consumers in Belgium and the Netherlands tend to spend less on Christmas, with more focus on early December’s Sinterklaas festival than elsewhere.

A majority of consumers, 70%, felt that Christmas has become too commercial. Early sales events such as Black Friday could encourage panic buying, leading to less appreciated gifts.

Ian Bright, Senior Economist at ING, explained: “There are many different ways to give at Christmas. Consumers may want to pause and think about the longer-term effect of their spending, before succumbing to pressure and purchasing expensive gifts that might go to waste.”

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