Shopping affected by attitude to Christmas

Keith Randall

Love of Christmas can be measured. That’s the conclusion of a study by Assistant Professor of Marketing Bianca Grohmann.

It’s one of several studies she’s doing on consumer behaviour via a $5,000 Distinguished Junior Researcher Award from the John Molson School of Business. Her research involves hundreds of Concordia students and faculty, and it has implications for both profit-hungry merchants and harried shoppers.

“Consumers’ enjoyment of Christmas is influenced by religious beliefs and their level of materialism, and it’s absolutely driven by age,” she said. “But there’s also a social component independent of the religious meaning of holidays. There are people who, despite religious beliefs, don’t participate because they’re very skeptical of the marketing of holidays.”

Grohmann got her first degree in her native Munich, and came to North America hoping to work in the hotel industry. Instead, through graduate studies at Washington State University, she became fascinated with consumer behaviour. She came to Concordia in 2002.

“My research has two goals: for marketers to find out what’s really appealing to consumers, and to find out what makes consumers skeptical.”

Her study, “I Love Christmas,” found that consumers who enjoy Christmas are more likely to enjoy store decoration in traditional green and red, Christmas background music, and ambient scents of pine, apple cider and vanilla.

Others, react more negatively to such stimuli and have a less favorable attitude toward gift shopping. Marketers and retailers in particular are advised to tone down their use of Christmas-themed promotions if their target market does not enjoy Christmas.

Grohmann’s studies offer some useful pointers for the shop-till-you-drop set.

“Research shows that a combination of music and scent in the retail environment can be very persuasive. People spend more time in the stores, and spend more money.”

The paranoid, though, can put away fears of mind control by storeowners.

“Strictly academic research has shown that subliminal messages do not work. For example, those tapes that supposedly have subliminal messages that help you lose weight or quit smoking really don’t work. What works are consumers’ expectations of what those tapes are doing for them.”

Grohmann considers herself to be on the consumers’ side, cautioning marketers against rising consumer skepticism.

“In the long run, trying to take advantage of consumers is not going to work. Retailers can only survive for long if consumers come back, if they remain loyal. And one aspect of loyalty is trust.”

Her findings open new research avenues into holiday-related consumption behaviours, such as the role of religious, cultural and social influences. In the meantime, happy shopping to all who enjoy the season.