Study: Most Ga. shoppers won’t spend more on gifts this year - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Study: Most Ga. shoppers won’t spend more on gifts this year

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ALBANY, GA (WALB) -

Most Georgia shoppers don't plan to spend more on gifts this holiday season.

A study by Georgia Southern University shows 53% of Georgians plan to spend about the same as last year and 25% plan to shell out less.

One shopper told us she'll spend less this year because of the uncertain economy.

"We are probably going to spend a little bit less so that if any unforeseen things happen in our family, we will have something to fall back on," said shopper Dottie Clements.

Participants in the study plan to spend $970 on all their gifts.

43% say Georgia's economy is about the same as last year, while 37% feel it's gotten worse.

 

A summary of the study can be found below.

 

 

Bureau of Business Research & Economic Development

 

General Findings Fall 2012 Consumer Confidence Survey

  • Participants plan to spend about the same amount of money on holiday gifts as they did last year.
  • Participants plan to shop for most of their holiday gifts between late November and mid- December.
  • Participants' views of the U.S. and Georgia economy do differ and are positively related to financial status.
  • A majority of participants feel that general business conditions and job availability will improve by this time next year.

Holiday Shopping Responses

  • This year participants plan to buy gifts for 9.8 people and spend $970 on average for all of their gifts.
  • This year participants plan to buy gifts for 8.8 family members with an average of $113 per family member.
  • 53% of participants plan to spend the same amount as they did last year and 25% plan to spend less than they did last year.
  • How much participants plan to spend is related to their marital status, age and level of education. The level of education is the most influential of these factors, followed closely by marital status.
  • 54% of participants plan to complete most of their shopping between Black Friday and December 15, and 22% plan to finish in November on or before Black Friday.
  • When consumers plan to shop is related to their gender. Generally speaking, men plan to shop later this year than women.
  • 46% plan to do no online shopping this holiday season; in contrast 32% plan to do more than a quarter of their shopping online.

Economic Findings

  • 45% of participants say the U.S. economy is worse than it was last year, and 34% see the economy as being the same as it was last year.
  • 43% of participants say the Georgia economy is about the same as it was this time last year, and 37% see the Georgia economy as worse than it was last year.
  • Views on both the U.S. economy and Georgia economy are influenced by the financial status of the respondents.
  • Participants have not seen much change in their financial status from last year. 56% say they are about the same financially, and 45% feel their family salaries have not kept up with the cost of living.

 

 Looking ahead one year from now

  • 56% of participants see general business conditions being better in Georgia one year from now.
  • 51% of respondents see more jobs being available in Georgia one year from now.
  • 58% of participants see their family income as being about the same one year from now.
  • Participants' views of the U.S. and Georgia economies are more positively related to these three questions than their monetary situation.

Background Information

  • The survey was conducted over a five night time period, which began on Monday, October 22 and continued through Thursday, October 26. The final night of data collection was Monday, October 29. The calls were made by Dora Schmit's, Ph.D., marketing research class.
  • This survey has a margin of error of 5.7%.
  • In total 3,291 phone calls were made and 295 complete surveys were collected.
  • This survey covered the state of Georgia and was stratified by the 12 regional commissions of Georgia, which are defined by the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
  • Our sample skewed toward female, older, white and married residents when compared to the Georgia population.

 

 

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