Smaller Gatherings And Less Travel This Christmas, But More Optimism for 2022, Finds Global Christmas Survey by TGM

    WARSAW, POLAND, December 22, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- TGM Research today announced the formal release of its Christmas Global Survey Report 2021, providing valuable insights on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the behaviour of retail consumers during the biggest holiday season of the year. Over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced serious transformations in the way people travel and shop. The just-completed survey by TGM Research is the world's largest festive season-oriented survey for the year that was aimed at capturing the extent of these changes.

The report released by TGM Research provides a clear and thorough understanding of unique consumer behaviour preceding Christmas and its impact. 17 countries across five continents were studied to gain proper insights on consumer behaviour around the world. The average representative sample for all the countries was more than 800, and the total sample size of the project was close to 15,000. The survey was conducted between the 4th and 10th of December 2021 via internet-based polling. Country data was weighted to take country population structure aged between 18-55 or 18-65.

The survey reveals that even in the aftermath of the pandemic, Christmas remains to be the most awaited season of the year for 87% of people worldwide. This is primarily because 93% of people consider this period of the year as an excellent opportunity to spend quality time with family. Unlike the pre-pandemic Christmas celebrations, however, people are more likely to spend time at home cooking, eating, decorating, and watching films.

Travelling has always been an important aspect of the Christmas celebration. However, the TGM Christmas Global Survey Report 2021 indicates that a large majority of respondents do not plan to travel during Christmas this year. Travelling would be mostly local, meeting family members primarily by car. Understandably, socializing with extended family and friends will be somewhat limited for the year. Technology will play a major role in overcoming these reunion difficulties.

The Covid pandemic has significantly influenced people's travel decisions, and only 30% of people have a travel plan this Christmas and about 74% of them will use cars as their means of transportation. These results are almost identical for European, Latin American, and North American countries. Also, about 46% of the respondents feel that they will spend about the same amount on transportation as last year.

TGM Research informs that compared to the previous year, there will be some signs of improvement this year in terms of Christmas spending. However, it is unlikely to bounce back to pre-pandemic trends. The survey provides several key takeaways related to consumer spending this Christmas:
• While some consumers started their Christmas shopping early this year, most of them will wait until the final week prior to Christmas.
• For many consumers, shopping online has become a habit over the last couple of years and this will continue to be a preferred choice for a significant part of their Christmas shopping.
• Safety will take centre stage this year, and a large majority of shoppers will avoid crowded locations to avoid physical contact thus 32 of all respondent's plan to shop online for Christmas
• The average family meeting size for Christmas will be 7.3 people, with a high of 9.8 in Latin America, and a low of 5.6 people in Europe
• As travel options are limited this year, 72 percent plan to use a video call for celebrating Christmas with family.

The TGM Christmas Global Survey Report shows some positive Christmas spending trends compared to the year 2020. In spite of the economic impact of the pandemic, about 32% of people are expecting to spend more this year. After sacrificing the previous Christmas, these consumers are likely to allocate a higher budget this year for food and gift.

TGM Research is hopeful that 2022 will be the year of transition towards a Covid-free world. According to their study, about 47% of Europeans and Americans believe that 2022 will be better. Interestingly, LATAM and the rest of the world are far more optimistic about the upcoming year.

The report discussing the findings of the TGM Christmas Global Survey Report 2021 is now available at https://tgmresearch.com/christmas2021

About TGM Research: TGM Research is an international technology-driven market research agency, which uses innovative digital ways to conduct online surveys worldwide. It delivers large-scale global projects across all business and consumer audiences. TGM's global team of consultants blends people expertise and technology experiences to build insight solutions that help drive clients' incremental growth.

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