Christmas time is consumption time. Every year, stressed shoppers push through crowded inner cities. And in residential areas, parcel delivery trucks clog the streets.
But how do Germans buy their Christmas presents in times of climate change and economic slump? How much money do they spend? What do you buy? And are you going to the city or just to the net? The opinion research institute Civey investigated these questions in a representative survey for SPIEGEL.
"How much money do you expect to spend on Christmas presents this year?" The Germans were asked. After all, each sixth replied: more than 500 euros.
And not only wealthy people like to spend money: About one in ten with low or very low purchasing power plans to spend more than 500 euros. A clearly restrained consumption does not appear in Germany.
Also interesting are the answers to the question where the Germans most often buy their Christmas presents. The clear answer: on the Internet. Around one third of Germans ordered gifts online in particular. This is all the more astonishing as the online trade accounts for only around ten percent of total trade on an annual average.
And who buys the Christmas gifts at the click of a mouse? Again, the survey gives a clear answer: it is mainly the 40-49 year olds. Nearly half (48.5 percent) of this group said they would buy gifts online most often. Middle-aged people who have little time between work and family.
This age group is even ahead of the supposedly so internetaffinen 18-29-year-olds. Although they also order their gifts predominantly (41.2 percent) on the Internet, they are much more likely to go shopping than the 40+ generation (13.9 percent versus 7.6 percent).
What the Germans put under the Christmas tree, on the other hand, seems to be diversified: vouchers, event tickets or money accounted for 26.9 percent, but books / CDs (21.9 percent) and toys (19.3 percent) are also given away as a gift. According to the interviewees, cell phones, televisions or other technology are selected less frequently for their loved ones. And the sustainability debate does not lead to a craft trend: only 12.9 percent want to make gifts themselves.
A quarter would do without the Christmas tree - for the environment
Do Greta Thunberg, climate change and the plastic waste debate have any influence on the Christmas consumption habits? The hypothetical question "What would you do without for Christmas for reasons of sustainability?" After all, one in four answered: on the Christmas tree.
More often, only packaging (50.5 percent) and "generally too much food" were clicked. Here, caution is advised: Even wrapping paper is part of packaging, on the Christmas at the end hardly anyone waived. And, climate debate or not: The roast belongs in this country for Christmas: Only 14.4 percent of Germans would be willing to give up on the feast days on meat.
Interesting in the topic of renunciation and the view in the party spectrum: While the Green Party followers are happy to sacrifice Christmas (only 5.4 percent exclude this), that looks different among the AfD voters. More than half (54.8 percent) would like to do without nothing at Christmas.
Who is behind Civey surveys?
Civey is an online opinion research institute based in Berlin. To compile its representative surveys, the software of the company, founded in 2015, merges websites into a nationwide survey network. In addition to SPIEGEL ONLINE include, among other things, the "Tagesspiegel", "World", "Wirtschaftswoche" and "Rheinische Post". Civey was funded by the ProFit funding program of Investitionsbank Berlin and the European Regional Development Fund. "