• by Ray Schultz , November 16, 2020

In case this wasn't already abundantly clear, politics and governmental actions do influence consumer behavior.

For instance, in a poll conducted before Joe Biden won the presidential election, Biden supporters indicated that they planned to spend 22% more on the holidays with a Biden victory, while just 8% of Trump supporters said they would increase their holiday spend. 

Just 6% of Biden supporters said they would increase their holiday spending if Trump had won, while 32% of Trump supporters indicated the same, according to the survey from Jungle Scout, a platform for selling on Amazon.

Jungle Scout, which polled 1,002 consumers for its "Q4 Insights: Politics & the Holiday Season" report, also found 46% of respondents said they had decreased their spending from July through September, with 22% saying they had increased it and 32% indicating there was no change in spending.  

The survey was conducted on Oct. 1-2, and covered all states.

Of those polled, 41% said they planned to vote for Biden, 39% for Trump and 5% for other. Another 7% were undecided and 7% did not plan to vote. And 2% declined to answer. Democrats made up 37% of the sample size, with Republicans at 34%, independents at 22% and other, 4%. Four percent preferred not to answer. 

As for the holidays, 23% said they would spend less on the holidays in the absence of a stimulus check.

And stimulus money aside, 25% said they will spend less on the holidays than in 2019, and 33% said they will decrease their overall spending until the end of the year. On the flip side, 24% will lay out more for the holidays this year, and 41% will spend the same as in 2019.  

The holidays began in October for many shoppers, with 33% starting their shopping on October 1 and 19% on Amazon Prime Day. But 14% said they will wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and 17% won't start until December. (Another 11% don’t know.) 

Here’s another takeaway for email marketers crafting their holiday offers: 34% of consumer will shop for deals when buying gifts for others. But 14% will pay full price for luxury gift items. 

Overall, 74% are seeking the product with the lowest price.  

At the same time, 21% plan to will essential items such as groceries and toiletries this season. 

How much will they spend? Here’s what they say:

• Up to $100 — 12%
• Up to $250 — 22%
• Up to $500 — 24% 
• Up to $1,000 — 16%
• Up to $2,500 — 8%
• Up to $5,000 — 5%
• More than $5,000 — 2%
• Other/NA — 11% 

In findings that would seem good news for Jungle Scout and other ecommerce tech firms, the survey also found nearly half of respondents (48%) agreeing that they would be fine if they never shopped in a physical store again, versus 39% who agreed with that statement in the first half of the year; and 74% saying they believe that most shopping will happen online in the future.

This story has been updated.