Caught up in festival cheer, Indians end up spending more than they plan to, according to a global gifting survey conducted by Wakefield Research and commissioned by Western Union.
According to the survey, between September and October 2011, 75 per cent of Indians budgeted for spending. However, 72 per cent spent more than they had budgeted.
And despite this 87 per cent of Indians still plan to make a budget for future festival spending, the survey said.
According to Ms Pia De Lima, Director, Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific, Western Union, “It is perhaps the Indian sentiment of wanting to please the receiver which makes us go overboard with festival spending.”
The survey was conducted among people above 18 years of age, in US, Mexico, Germany, India, Brazil, UAE, South Africa and the UK. These are big markets for Western Union, globally, Ms De Lima said.
More than half of Indians who were part of the survey (51 per cent) said they would rather receive a cash gift of Rs 1,000 over a physical gift of the same value.
However, when Indians eventually gift to family and loved ones, a majority (65 per cent) opted for a physical gift even at the risk of overspending.
About 31 per cent Indians surveyed said they would save or invest the cash they received as festival gift. This was followed by those who would use cash for festival-related spending other than gifts (24 per cent), 17 per cent said they would use it to buy a gift for someone else and 12 per cent said they would donate it to charity.