According to the results of The Harris Poll November 2 and 11, 2009 by Harris Interactive, the one thing people most look forward to in the holiday season is spending time with family and friends (62%).
Some of the other overall findings about people's favorite anticipations include:
Thing Most Look Forward To For The Holidays (% of Respondents) | ||||||
| Total | Generation | ||||
| 2007 | 2009 | EchoBoomers (18-32) | GenX (33-44) | BabyBoomers (45-63) | Matures (64+) |
Spending time with family and friends | 66% | 62% | 53% | 63% | 65% | 71% |
Holiday dinners and parties | 9 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
Finding and giving presents | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 4 |
Watching television specials and hearing holiday songs on the radio | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
Putting up holiday decorations | n/a | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Getting presents | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | * | - |
I do not celebrate any upcoming holidays | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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I don't look forward to the upcoming holidays | 9 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Not sure | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
Source: HarrisPoll, November 2009 |
While 21% of people who celebrate holidays say they like everything about the holiday season, there are some things that people dislike about this time of year. 27% say the one thing they dislike the most about the holidays is spending too much money, while 23% say it is the holiday shopping crowds. 6% say the one thing they dislike is putting up and then taking down holiday decorations. 5% say television specials and holiday songs, 4% dislike finding and giving presents, 4% don't like eating and drinking too much, and 2% dislike spending time with family and friends.
As people get older spending time with family and friends is what they look forward to for the holiday season. 70% of Matures, those aged 64 and older, say that is what they look forward to compared with 52% of Echo Boomers, those aged 18-32. 31% of Matures say they "like everything about the holiday season."
For some people one of the joys of the holiday season is hearing songs that come around only once a year, says the report. The holiday song that people most look forward to hearing this time of year is Silent Night, followed by White Christmas. The rest of the top ten include, in order:
By the end of the holiday season, the top song people wish they would never hear again is Jingle Bells. This is followed by Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, White Christmas, and Little Drummer Boy.
Besides holiday songs, there are animated specials and holiday movies that invade televisions each year. The favorite holiday animated TV special are bunched near the top, with:
Favorite Animated Holiday TV Special (% of Respondents) | ||||||
| Total | Generation | ||||
| 2006 | 2009 | Echo Boomers (18-32) | Gen X (33-44) | BabyBoomers (45-63) | Matures (64+) |
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 26% | 23% | 21% | 25% | 25% | 16% |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas | 21 | 22 | 27 | 27 | 19 | 12 |
A Charlie Brown Christmas | 24 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 25 |
Frosty the Snowman | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 11 |
The Year Without a Santa Claus | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
None of these | 19 | 22 | 17 | 15 | 24 | 34 |
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Source: HarrisPoll, November 2009 |
When it comes to holiday movies, two are tied for favorite:
For Echo Boomers and Gen Xers, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is their favorite animated special, while for Baby Boomers it's Rudolph. For Matures, A Charlie Brown Christmas is number one. There is a clear generational divide for movies as well. Echo Boomers and Gen Xers sayA Christmas Story is their favorite, while for Baby Boomers and Matures, it's A Wonderful Life.
For the complete release in PDF format, please visit Harris Interactive here.
Only 8% look forward to holiday dinners and parties? Only 2% look forward to getting presents? There's something wrong with these numbers. Like an "8" or "9" in front of them, maybe?
LOL...I was just blogging about Bah Humbug yesterday and wish I'd have included this in my rant!! LOL!!