• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, November 29, 2012

More holiday-related social metrics, courtesy of a new study by Digitas and social analytics provider Brandwatch. The companies sifted through more than 2.6 million social media conversations from Nov. 20 to Nov. 26 to see what people were talking about in relation to shopping and retail stores. Among the top findings:

-The most buzzed about items are tech gadgets (34%), specifically smartphones and tablets. But culture-related items (which include things such as books, movies, and show tickets) come in second with 22%.

-Consumers pointed to Walmart as their top in-store shopping destination (24%), followed by Target (21%), Best Buy (14%), and Macy's (12%).

-California leads the way in holiday shopping chatter, with 29% of the social conversations. Texas comes in distant second with 8%; New York in third with 6%.

-The bulk of holiday shopping chatter (58%) showed people shopping for themselves, with the balance talking about shopping for others.

Digitas said the research is the first in a new series of reports it will provide with Brandwatch focused on social analyses and real-time snapshots of various consumer trends and preferences.