The Affluent Market For Christmas and Hanukah Holiday Gifts: Second Annual Forecast of December Holiday Gift Expenditures and The Recipients, Types, and Retail Sources of the Gifts

Countries covered: United States The data in this report was drawn from the Fall 2006 Affluent Market Tracking Study #10, the latest in an ongoing series of twice yearly surveys of the most affluent 10% of U.S. households. These surveys measure and track how the affluent assess current business conditions and their 12-month outlook for the economy, the stock market, and their personal household earnings. The surveys also monitor anticipated changes in spending for a variety of different products and services, changes in expected rates of saving, and primary investment objectives. The recently completed survey included a series of questions about Christmas and Hanukah gift giving. This data includes identification of what the respondents most want to receive as gifts and the amount they plan to spend for December holiday gifts for their spouse, their children, other relatives, and friends. Data on when and where they will shop for the gifts is also provided. On average, the 11.2 million households represented by this survey will spend five times the average U.S. household, according to the latest survey for The National Retail Foundation. In total, the wealthiest 10% will spend about $31 to $34 billion or approximately 15% of the total estimated December holiday gift market. The respondents in this survey reported an average net worth of $3.3 million and an average $324,000 annual income.

Additional Information

Research Methodology

This research is based on self-administered questionnaires mailed to a randomly selected, national sample of 3,400 men and women in households that, based on their income and ownership of certain assets, were expected to meet the minimum net worth requirement of $800,000. The overall response rate was 15 percent. These survey results are based upon the 426 men and women who promptly responded to the survey and met the minimum net worth requirement. The maximum margin of error of this survey, at 95% confidence, is five percentage points.

Where it is noted in this report that there are significant differences between different segments of the overall sample, it is meant that there is a 95% likelihood that the differences are real and not due to sampling error. This is not to say that differences that are not significant are not important; only that the degree of certainty of a genuine difference is something less than 95%.

NOTE: In the tables in this report, there are columns of figures that would normally add to 100% but which are shown to total somewhat above or below 100% (e.g. 98% or 101%). This is due to the rounding of the numbers in the columns, unless otherwise noted. Where an asterisk (*) is shown rather than a figure, this indicates the number was less than 0.5%.

Respondent Profile

Because the survey respondents included a disproportionately large percentage of people in high net worth households, the sample was rebalanced (using Federal Reserve Board data on household net worth) to ensure that the figures presented in this report for the total sample were more representative of the true mix of the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households.

The net worth categories used on the questionnaire and in this report were selected to conform to the categories used by the Federal Reserve Board to define the wealthiest 10%, 5%, and 1% of U.S. households. The wealthiest 10% have a minimum net worth of approximately $800,000. The wealthiest 5% have a minimum net worth of approximately $1.5 million. The wealthiest 1% have a minimum net worth of approximately $6 million.

Following is a profile of the rebalanced group:

• Average net worth is $3.3 million with a median net worth of $1.5 million. Average investable assets are $1.3 million.
• Average primary residence value is $1.25 million.
• Average annual household income is $324,000.
• Average age is 53, 91% are married, and 56% are women.