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One Good Reason Why Retailers Should Stop Decorating for Xmas Before Thanksgiving
Retailers, take note: keep it simple and hold off on decorating til after turkey day.
As Jezebel noted yesterday, “Nancy Puccinelli of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School confirms what anybody who has been to a mall in the past ten years can tell you: excessive decorations, intrusive music, and ‘enforced holiday cheer’ are obnoxious and grating.” I for one can’t stand seeing holiday decorations before Thanksgiving, and this year I noticed that every time I did see Christmas lights before December, I got physically tense. According to Puccinelli, I’m not alone. “The earlier the decorations go up, the sooner the stress begins and the greater it will be once the holidays arrive,” she says.
It turns out, if retailers know what’s good for them, they should cut back on holiday displays. Not simply in order to avoid stressing out consumers — after all, trying on jeans will stress most consumers out. But because fewer holiday decorations are better for the bottom line.
“We know from studies of consumer behavior that moderation in festive decor leads consumers to spend more and to like the retailer more,” Puccinelli says. That makes perfect sense to me. Other ways retailers can win with Christmas decor? Puccinelli suggests keeping things chill:
Classical melodies, such as Tchaikovsky’s “[The] Nutcracker,” celebrate the holiday without hitting consumers over the head with the joy they should be experiencing. Dimmer blue tones would be relaxing for consumers. Nostalgic smells might help consumers focus on the holidays as a family time and detract from the stress of gift-giving. Perhaps the smell of pine or gingerbread would take consumers back to a time when they did not have the pressures of holiday shopping. While scents do not typically affect mood, they have a strong effect on memory.
Ah, I feel better already! What do you think?
Check the symptoms: Do you have Holiday Affective Disorder?
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9 Comments
Diera commented on Dec 08 11 at 10:19 amSome stores are putting up the decorations BEFORE HALLOWEEN. I basically just avoid those stores as much as I can between the beginning of September and Thanksgiving, because I simply do not want to be faced with Christmas trees when it’s 90+ degrees out and not even October yet. I somehow think that making me avoid their store completely is not what Sears has in mind when they put up their trees on Labor Day.
carolyncastiglia commented on Dec 08 11 at 10:31 amWhut……. I’m so sorry for your loss. The loss of holiday joy! Ah! What is wrong with people???????????
goddess commented on Dec 08 11 at 12:02 pmDoesn’t bother me at all. In fact, we make a trip to the mall JUST to check out the decorations and soak in the ambiance. I love Christmas, love the decorations- but since we are talking straight- I wish they’d play Christmas carols by choirs- I really HATE the bastardization of most modern holiday music, with the exception of TSO.
Diera commented on Dec 08 11 at 12:52 pmI wanted to follow up to say that, for me, the thing that makes it horrible is that it comes across as a blatant attempt to manipulate. We have a local gift shop that has a Christmas section that is always there and it doesn’t bother me at all, because it’s just a regular part of their store. When Sears puts their trees up in September, on the other hand, it really seems like they’re trying to fool us into thinking the holiday season has started and that we should SPEND SPEND SPEND! Now! Because Christmas is around the corner, as long as you think the corner is four freakin’ months long! They amplify this impression when they send me emails about special Black Fridays in July. It kind of lays bare the way that a lot of Christmas stuff only exists because stores are using it to yank our chains, and suddenly all the lights and songs and presents stop seeming fun and joyous and start seeming like some sort of weird cultural exercise in self-flagellation. And then I have to go lie down.
carolyncastiglia commented on Dec 08 11 at 1:32 pmI totally agree. I want Xmas to continue to feel special, but each year it’s harder.
Suzie commented on Dec 08 11 at 4:37 pmWow…so much angst. Just stay the hell out of the malls and stores then. When do people have time for all of this shopping anyway? I do most of mine online.
jenny tries too hard commented on Dec 08 11 at 7:00 pmSome people work in stores, Suzie. Some people use malls as gathering places for playgroups and exercise. Some people would like to support locally-owned brick-and-mortars (many of those are in malls in my area). Still more people think it’s flat silly to pay shipping for gifts that they plan to give to people across the street, and also haven’t found a way to squeeze tomatoes over the interwebz.
But, yeah, the Christmas stuff was already slowly taking over a good two weeks before Halloween, it’s madness. Except the candy cane coffee and eggnog. That can stick around all year, thanks.
goddess commented on Dec 09 11 at 8:02 amWow- funny how all the decorations, songs and sights of the season makes me feel warm and fuzzy- yet others feel nauseous.
I guess I just do my own thing and let them do theirs. This year I actually began shopping later than ever in my life, am not stressing it and really enjoying the season!
Casey commented on Dec 09 11 at 9:23 amAs someone who works in a small retail store, I know that if the customers stopped buy the Christmas merchandise before the Christmas season actually started, then the stores most likely wouldn’t put up the displays so early. Supply and demand! Personally, it doesn’t really bother me. I like to take a long time to figure out what to gift and to decorate with!
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