As people dust off their Christmas stockings and write their festive wish-lists, CEWE (‘see-wee’ ), a leading European photo printing specialist, has released the results of its survey investigating Irish Christmas gift-giving experiences - good and bad.
When it comes to family gift giving, 31 per cent of those surveyed named their mammies and their sisters as the best gift givers at Christmas. On the flip side, dads and brothers were voted as being the worst at gift-giving by 26 per cent of those surveyed.
The CEWE Ireland survey asked people to name some of their best and worst Christmas gifts, with ‘experience’ type gifts such as concert tickets or weekend away vouchers topping the list of best presents for 25 per cent of people. Personalised gifts are also extremely popular at Christmas, with 90 per cent of people who have been gifted a personalised gift, either liking or loving the thought that goes into personalising a present.
For every Christmas cracker, however, there’s also a Christmas turkey, with novelty gifts and re-gifted gifts topping the list (46 per cent of respondents ) of the worst Christmas presents people have ever received.
“Our survey shows that what Irish people really value when it comes to a Christmas gift is not the amount on the price tag but the amount of thought that has gone into it,” says Steve Manfield, CEWE Ireland Marketing Director.
The CEWE research revealed that one in four people give the same gifts each year, either to keep a Christmas tradition going, or to avoid disappointing the recipient. When it comes to time spent shopping for gifts, unsurprisingly, the most time is spent shopping for partners (36 per cent ) and children (31 per cent ). Along with mams and sisters, partners are seen as the best gift givers, while aunts and uncles joining dads and brothers as the worst.
“One of the great take-outs from the survey is that a quarter of Irish people give the same festive gift every year, be that a gift founded on a Christmas ritual or perhaps a gift that is warmly anticipated and earmarked annually,” says CEWE’s Steve Manfield. “It might be prudent for those voted as the worst gift-givers, dads and brothers to pull up their Christmas stockings and consider gifting a traditional festive gift to avoid disappointment.
"Either way, the joy of giving and receiving Christmas gifts is very much evident among Irish people surveyed”, Mr Manfield concluded.
