UK: Audience insights into festive content viewing

We’re closing in on the end of year but for many it’s the beginning of the festive season. And with this time of year comes a host of Christmas-related content.

According to a new YouGov survey, 66% of the British population say they watch Christmas-related content. This offers a huge opportunity for brands to target audiences with relevant commercials and through various platforms.

Who tunes in to Christmas content?

While older Brits tend to make up the highest share of Christmas content viewers, the younger age groups of content viewers are more likely to over-index compared to the national population. Christmas content viewers are most likely to be women aged between 25 and 44-years old. When compared to the overall GB population, these viewers tend to belong to households with a gross income between £50,000 and £99,999 and are more likely to be living in the north of Britain than the south.

Roughly three in ten Christmas content viewers have already done their Christmas shopping for this year (26%)

According to last year’s data, Christmas content viewers are mostly early shoppers (35% vs. 32% started shopping in late November/early December). They also shop during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales (7% vs. 5% of GB adults).

This could be an indication of this year’s shopping trend too, as Christmas content viewers are more likely to shop during the festive season (91% vs. 87%). So far Christmas content viewers have done none of their shopping (55% vs. 54%) or only some of it (26% vs. 24% of Nat rep).

Those Brits who tune in to Christmas-related content have distinct video streaming traits. While a majority of the general population watch the major streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the difference in degree of consumption between Christmas content viewers and all GB adults is notable when it comes to Netflix (54% vs. 48%), Amazon Prime Video (35% vs. 31%), Disney+ (20% vs. 16%), All 4 (21% vs. 18%), and YouTube (26% vs. 23%).

There are also differences when it comes to the TV channels they watch. Christmas content viewers over-index in their consumption of ITV2 (18% vs. 16%). They are also more likely to watch channels like Disney, E4, ITVBe, Comedy Central and Sky Cinema compared to all British adults.

Three in ten Christmas content viewers prefer to shop for clothes and shoes equally online and in-person

In general, Christmas content viewers in the UK are more likely to evenly split their clothes and shoes purchases between online and offline stores when compared with the overall British population, who tend to favour offline purchases more. If last year’s data around Christmas shopping is any indication, a significant share of shopping will come from mobile purchases (41% vs. 35%), followed by offline purchases (39% vs. 36%).

According to 2020’s data, clothes and shoes (46%), health and beauty products (36%), food and drinks (45%), books (30%) were the most popular categories of gifts given. But the biggest difference in gifts between Christmas content viewers and the general population are toys and games (37% vs. 32%), game consoles (6% vs. 4%) and video/computer games (13% vs. 9%). The data also shows that Christmas content viewers tend to spend more on Christmas gifts than the general population does.

Which brands stand out most among Christmas content viewers?

YouGov’s high-response panel and advanced research solutions allow brands and advertisers to connect data from one survey to the brand surveys we conduct on a daily basis. This enables us to build out rich profiles of consumers’ worlds in relation to different brands.

We’ve learned so far that Christmas content viewers are unique in terms of their demographic makeup, Christmas shopping behaviours and media consumption so it’s not a shock that they have particular brand affinities too.

Below is a short list of brands that Christmas content viewers are more likely to consider purchasing than others.

Automotive:

Audi, MINI, FIAT, Porsche, SEAT, Range Rover, Land Rover, Tesla, Infiniti, Renault

• Significance testing for car brands conducted between Christmas content viewers and Nat Rep

CPG:

Snack foods – Krispy Kreme, Pringles, McVitie’s, Hula Hoops, Lotus Biscoff, McCoy’s, Mr Kipling, Maryland, Ben & Jerry’s, Doritos

Health and beauty – Kleenex, Andrex, Corsodyl, Sure, Preference, Johnson & Johnson, Clairol Nice ’N Easy, Dove, Elvital, Right Guard

• Significance testing for food and health and beauty brands conducted between Christmas content viewers who are responsible for grocery shopping vs. all grocery shoppers

Beer and Cider – Miller, Corona, Thatchers Gold, Coors Light, Heineken, Strongbow Dark Fruits, Marstons 61 Deep, BrewDog Punk IPA, Carlsberg, San Miguel

Spirits – Baileys, Absolut, Malibu, Disaronno Amaretto, Martini, Archers, Aperol, Kahlua, Barefoot Wine, Shackleton

• Significance testing for beer and spirit brands conducted between Christmas content viewers who consume or buy alcohol vs. all alcohol drinkers

Retail:

Supermarkets – Costco, FarmFoods, Whole Foods Market, Premier Stores, The Food Warehouse, Londis, Best-One, Jack's, Riverford, One Stop

• Significance testing for supermarket brands conducted between Christmas content viewers who are responsible for grocery shopping vs. all grocery shoppers

Finance:

Consumer banks – NatWest, Halifax, Barclays, Santander, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, Sainsbury’s Bank, Post Office, Clydesdale Bank, Monese

General insurance – BUPA, Aviva, Kwik Fit Insurance, Privilege, Admiral, Vitality, Esure, AXA, Direct Line, Swift Cover

• Significance testing for consumer banking and insurance brands conducted between Christmas content viewers and Nat Rep

Tech:

Consumer Electricals – Playstation, Cable & Wireless, Nintendo Switch, Ring, GHD, Dyson Purifier, Fitbit, Xbox, Google Home, Apple Watch

Mobile operators – Talkmobile, BT Mobile, Openreach, Lycamobile, giffgaff, Three, EE (Everything Everywhere), Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, Lebara

Video game publishers – Sega, Rockstar Games, Sony Entertainment, Ubisoft, Activision, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast, Codemasters, EA Sports, Epic Games

• Significance testing communications, media, tech and video game publisher brands conducted between Christmas content viewers and Nat Rep

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Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of 28,436 GB adults aged 18+ who answered the question, “Do you watch Christmas-related content (such as Christmas-themed movies) during December?”. Christmas content viewers are defined as those who say yes to the question (n= 18,289). All interviews were conducted online in October 2021.