• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 22, 2017

Considering the "who, what, where, and why" of the 2017 consumer holiday shopping behavior study, the Pollfish Holiday Consumer Behavior Study, the researchers at Pollfish asked 1,000 Americans about their holiday shopping habits.

For the WHO, Americans mostly look to personal recommendations or discounts when deliberating purchases. Famous influencers and advertisements and fall lower in the ranking.

• 1 Personal recommendations (48%)
• 2 Sales/discounts (43%)
• 3 TV Ads (24%)
• 4 Facebook Ads (21%)
• 5 Celebrity and Social Media Influencers (12%)

Considering WHAT, says the repot, most Americans will spend less than $300 on gifts

• The top gifts Americans plan to buy are: clothing (71%) accessories (53%) movies, video games, or music (54%), shoes (40%), and entertainment systems (37%)
• 51% of Americans will spend $300 or less on holiday gifts, the most popular spending range being $100-$300 (23%). 28% plan to spend $500 or more

For WHERE, brick & mortar wins out over online shopping

• Despite the rising popularity of e-commerce, only 44% of Americans will shop primarily online, while 56% will opt for brick and mortar stores, says the report.

Finally, WHY: half of Americans are driven by generosity

• Asked what motivates them to buy gifts, 55% said "it's just tradition," followed by 48% who said they're driven by feelings of generosity. Only 7% of Americans buy gifts because they expect to receive gifts in return.