Most consumers OK with stores beginning holiday music and decor before Thanksgiving: survey

Retailers that begin piping “Frosty the Snowman” into their stores before Thanksgiving this year may get some complaints of “Christmas creep,” the notion that some stores can jump the gun when they amp up the winter-holiday vibes before Black Friday. But a new survey suggests that only 20% of consumers believe retailers ought to wait until after Thanksgiving to introduce their winter-holiday music, decor, and scents.

One in three respondents (33%) said the right time for retailers to commence the in-store holiday sensory experience is early November, while 24% said mid-to-late November and 22% said as early as October.

You won’t be shocked to learn that the survey was conducted not by the Grinch, but rather by Mood Media, an experiential media company whose offerings include in-store music, scent, and signage. The survey polled US adults aged 18 and older.

While 32% of those surveyed said the multisensory holiday atmosphere has no influence on their shopping behavior, others perk up when reminded that Santa Claus is indeed coming to town. More than 4 in 10 (41%) said stores’ holiday ambiance prompted them to spend more time in stores, “dwell time” in retail parlance, while 6% said the opposite—that holiday ambiance drives them out of stores sooner.

Retailers are “trying to get there first before each of their competitors and they’re expanding the season from two months to four months,” Elaine Luther, a business management professor at Point Park University, told Pittsburgh’s CBS News affiliate, KDKA. “And it just takes away from the specialness of it.”

But Kate Hardcastle, a UK-based consumer and retail analyst, believes that Christmas coming to stores ever earlier is a strategy to delight rather than alienate consumers.

“While some may view the early onset of Christmas as a sign of commercial overreach, it’s ultimately a cultural signal,” Hardcastle wrote in Forbes. “We are creatures who seek connection and celebration, and Christmas—no matter when it starts—is the ultimate expression of that need.”