Insight: British women amongst the most likely to find Christmas stressful
A new study has found that British women are among the most likely in Europe to associate Christmas with stress.
The research conducted in 25 countries by Lidl Nielsen found that some 61% British women equate Christmas with stress. In fact, only women in Sweden, Slovakia and the Czech Republic find it more stressful. This compares to 54% of British men.
In all 25 countries, except Switzerland, women were shown to find Christmas more stressful than men.
The results of the study reveal that Christmas preparations and planning are still done mostly by women. Some 66% said they organise the Christmas food, 75% buy the gifts while 78% take care of the Christmas decorations, including dressing the tree.
“As a retail company active in 30 countries, Lidl wanted to ask shoppers what is important to them at Christmas, what makes them feel stressed, and where they could use some help”, said Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight. “Indeed, retailers have a major role to play in helping reduce stress levels around Christmas as purchasing is such a major part of it. Consequently, advertising and services that tap into this often-unspoken aspect are likely to resonate strongly with people.”
The cost of Christmas is unlikely to help stress levels. Nielsen Homescan data reveals the typical December grocery shopping bill is 20% higher than the average bill across the 11 other months of the year while the number of shopping trips increases by 6%.
Alcohol sees the biggest increase in spend at 62% in December compared to the average month. This is followed by confectionery, up 33%, and health & beauty, up 20%.
Although total grocery sales in December are 20% higher than the average month, online grocery sales only rise by 6%. Watkins said this may look low in comparison but the differential is “more about the surge in sales that the larger out-of-town stores see in December, particularly people buying fresh produce in the final few days before Christmas.”
