Poll: Teens to Spend More on Holiday Gifts This Year

Colorado Springs, Colo. About one-third (32.3%) of polled teens said they will spend more for holiday gifts this year than they did in 2006, according to the seventh annual “Teens and Holiday Spending” survey conducted by Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Junior Achievement, a non-profit organization that teaches students about the importance of economics and free market.

The survey found that 22.8% of teens plan to spend more than $200 on holiday shopping, up 7% from 2006. Teens were also asked how they determine how much to spend on holiday gifts and 54.2% said they would create a budget based on what they could afford.

For teens who indicated they would purchase gifts that surpass their budget, the most frequently cited reason was “If I knew they really wanted that gift”, which was mentioned by 81.4% of the potential budget-busters. Boys were nearly twice as likely as girls to select “to impress the recipient” as their primary motivation for over-spending.

Of those teens who felt pressured to exceed their holiday budgets, reciprocity of gift giving was the primary reason. “If somebody buys me an expensive gift, I feel pressured to spend a lot of money on their gift” was cited by 55%, while 28.6% indicated that the costliness of gifts contributed to their overspending.