Real Christmas tree purchasers are more likely to place high importance on creating new holiday traditions with their families when compared with artificial tree users, a new survey reveals. In addition, the majority of real Christmas tree users incorporate a family tradition as part of their annual family outing to get a Christmas tree. The survey panel included 2,000 U.S. adults who celebrate Christmas and are parents of a child age 17 or under.
In fact, “keeping it real” by getting a real Christmas tree was cited as the top holiday activity that parents enjoyed when they were children, ranking above activities such as taking photos with Santa, cookie swaps, visiting extended family or going to the movies. Today, parents say they still enjoy the tradition of getting a Christmas tree with their children – second only to shopping for presents to put under the tree!
“Nothing says ‘the holidays’ like picking out a real Christmas tree with your loved ones, and this survey truly does confirm that real Christmas tree users are also the tradition keepers,” said Marsha Gray, Executive Director, Christmas Tree Promotion Board. “From the unmistakable fresh Christmas tree scent to the fun of the search, the experience of choosing a real tree is a tradition to look forward to every holiday season and remember for years to come.”
What else did the Christmas traditions survey uncover?
- Dads Favor Tradition – Dads were more likely to place a high importance on creating new holiday traditions with their children – including purchasing a real Christmas tree – when compared to moms.
- Parents Pick the Tree – When shopping for a real Christmas tree, 57 percent of parents say that they make the final call on the tree they’ll take home, 31 percent let the kids do the selecting, 12 percent say they all pick together, and 5 percent say they rotate the big decision each year.
- Mom Does the Tree Caretaking – While dads enjoy tree traditions, they don’t mind leaving the tree caretaking to mom, with 47 percent of moms doing the watering. Another 15 percent of parents said they assign the task to their kids while 15 percent said they all share in the duty as a family.
- The More Lights the Merrier – When it comes to decorating, 43 percent of parents said they prefer to adorn their tree with multi-colored lights, 21 percent prefer white lights, and 32 percent said they use both multi-colored and white lights.
Source: Christmas Tree Promotion Board, P.O. Box 77, Howell, MI 48844, 800-985-0773