Three-quarters don’t think they drink too much, 65% buy gifts online, less than 10% stick to their New Year’s resolutions

New York, December 18, 2019 – Business data platform Statista has conducted an online survey on the Holiday Season and New Year. More than 1,000 U.S. respondents at the age of 18 years until 84 years provided insights into how they spend the holidays and which priorities they have. The most important results in brief:

Traditions and prejudices: More than 80% think they don’t drink too much alcohol during holiday season

• 90% of Americans celebrate the holiday season with 56% not having the celebration of religious beliefs or the birth of Jesus as a top priority during that time.
• 83% are looking forward to spending time with family and friends, 69% to Christmas dinner with 31% of respondents planning to cook for themselves.
• 60% name mashed potatoes and 51% turkey as favorite dishes.
• 64% name a Christmas tree in the house as an important tradition, 56% snuggling up to Christmas movies. However, 47% don’t count Christmas music as an essential part of the celebrations and only 13% insist of having a mistletoe in their home.
• 8% of respondents agree to the statement that their family always fights over the holidays, 12% say that Christmas is pure stress.
• 81% stated that “My family thinks that I drink too much alcohol during Christmas holidays” does not apply to them.

Gifts and shopping behavior: 60% buy gifts before December, 65% buy gifts online

• On Christmas Day 65% are excited about giving presents to loved ones with 41% of respondents agreeing Christmas is a celebration of love for them.
• 58% of Americans exchange gifts during the day on the 25^th, with more than half of the respondents giving a Christmas gift to their children or partner. As little as 46% look forward to receiving presents.
• 60% of U.S. onliners start shopping for gifts before December with 4% starting to shop for gifts the week before Christmas or on Christmas Eve.
• 44% name both, vouchers and money, as the favorite gifts while only 3% would tell someone they don’t like a gift they received.
• 65% buy their Christmas gifts online as it is less stress (58%) and for the variety of payment options (57%). Amazon.com is the top choice with 91% online shoppers buying gifts there. Walmart is the second top choice with 53%.

New Year’s resolutions: Half of respondents want to eat healthier and exercise more

• 47% wish friends and family a happy new year, 38% watch a New Year’s countdown on TV.
• A majority (67%) spend New Year’s Eve at home, with 29% drinking champagne or sparkling wine to bring in the new year. Only a tiny minority (5%) spending their New Year’s Eve on vacation and just 7% celebrate with long drinks.
• Looking at the New Year’s resolutions, almost 50% want to eat healthier and to exercise more, 11% want to cut down on alcohol and 7% want to go vegetarian or vegan.
• Nearly half (47%) of those making New Year’s resolutions only made it a month in the previous year.

The full survey results for “Holiday Season & New Year in the US 2019” are available for free here. The corresponding survey for the UK is available here.

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Statista is the global No. 1 business data platform. Statista, founded in 2007 in Germany, has around 700 employees in its offices in Hamburg, London, Milan, Madrid, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo. Statista is a leading data and business intelligence portal which conducts international market and consumer studies as well as surveys.

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Anna Friedrich | anna.friedrich@statista.com | +1 646 905 00 29