Seasonal savings

01-Dec-2008 - Last updated on 16-Mar-2017 at 23:10 GMT

With family finances under pressure, will consumers be cutting back on what they spend this Christmas? Hayley Brown finds out

Christmas is a time of over indulgence, over spending and lame cracker jokes. One particular gem that springs to mind: 'What's the only thing that doesn't eat at Christmas? The turkey ... it's already stuffed.

Cringeworthy, but true; it really is the season when everyone's eating. But will consumers cut back on food spending because of the credit crunch? How much extra do they actually spend at Christmas? And do they care about their waistlines? Our exclusive survey carried out by Harris Interactive tries to find out.

"In addition to nearly two in five British adults celebrating Christmas who say that their 'household never pays a premium price for festive foods', nearly one in five say that their household will refrain from paying a premium for festive foods this Christmas due to the credit crunch," says Ioannis Kranitis, a researcher at Harris Interactive.

Looking at regional variations, 52% from the north east said that their household never pays a premium price for festive foods, which compares to 27% in London.

"Looking in particular at households that will not pay a premium this Christmas due to the credit crunch, nearly half said that the total extra spend last Christmas was between £51 and £150," says Kranitis.

In the north east, 66% of British adults said that they spent more than £100, and only 7% said that they spent more than £200. The biggest spenders were the Welsh, with over one in 10 saying they spent over £300.

Looking at gastronomical preferences, one in five adults said their household bought foods containing alcohol only over Christmas, while less than half bought these throughout the year or on special occasions. And half of the population didn't have any preference over Christmas puddings or mince pies - although less than a quarter said their household preferred mince pies.

"Furthermore, a strong majority planned to indulge in rich food this Christmas that they wouldn't normally eat the rest of the year," Kranitis continues. But respondents also expressed that they were at least 'somewhat concerned' about the amount of calories they took in over the festive period as opposed to 'not at all concerned' at a ratio of 3:2.

"Of those who were interested in losing weight in the New Year," Kranitis adds. "Half would be buying food or drink to help them diet, while three in 10 would not take any action. And looking specifically at those who would buy food or drink to help them diet in 2009, nearly three in 10 said they would do so more in January than any other month of the year." FM

This national poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive on October 15-21 among 1,935 adults aged over 16 years in Britain. For more information, contact Caterina Gerlotto, cgerlotto@harrisinteractive.com 0208 263 5382