Holidays are starting earlier than their time, with stores stocking up their decorations way before the “official” season begins, and influencers putting pressure on their audience to follow trends. It has become normal for people to buy Halloween decorations in July and decorate their houses for Christmas in October, when Halloween or Thanksgiving haven’t been celebrated yet. Every year, stores put out decorations earlier and earlier, and influencers use this to become trendsetters by buying them before the right time, which entices people to do the same.
Without knowing it, holidays stretch over for months, which some say ruins the excitement and anticipation that made them special, while others say they love and enjoy the lengthened holiday spirit.
“I, myself, get swept up with the shopping trends,” Warren Central business teacher Stephanie Dixon said. “I love the holidays so much. I love to make personalized presents, I love beautiful gift wrapping, I love the holiday apparel, I love decorating. The earlier the better for me.”
By restocking their seasonal items earlier, stores aim to capture attention before the competition does. According to Meredith Bryant, another business teacher at Warren Central, it’s all a marketing strategy, and when people notice those items, they start spending.
“Stocking holiday items earlier is all about timing,” Bryant said. “If they can get you thinking about Christmas while you’re still finishing your Halloween candy, they’ve already nudged your mindset toward buying.”
It may have started as a marketing strategy, but influencers take it even further by making it a social media trend. By shopping early and making aspirational holiday content, they become trendsetters who encourage people to follow the same timeline. They trigger early purchasing behaviors and use their sponsorships to get the viewers to buy from a certain brand. According to the McDonough School of Business, consumers are more emotionally driven during the holidays, which makes them open to ideas for gifting and celebrations. Influencers drive up impulsive shopping by capitalizing on that sentimentality and creating aspirational content using products tied to holiday memories and experiences.
The pressure of this can take a toll on people. According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, people aged 18 to 40 with a greater fear of missing out, also known as FOMO, who followed influencers reported lower social, psychological, and financial well-being. Through parasocial relationships, impulsive shopping is fueled by the desire to belong, which can harm consumers financially. Capitalizing on consumers’ fear can lead to anxiety about missing out and comparison, which can increase feelings of envy and inadequacy in consumers. Over the past few years, social media has changed the way people shop for holiday items. Influencers have turned shopping into a sport with a flood of holiday content made to make people think that others are already in the spirit. It makes people feel behind on trends and leads to impulsive shopping in an effort to keep up.
“People don’t just buy decorations or gifts anymore,” Bryant said. “They buy an aesthetic.”
Traditionally, most shoppers shop early or out of season because it is believed to be cheaper and spread out costs, but it isn’t always the case. According to Bryant, early shopping can give shoppers a “false sense of control” before the impulse purchases add up later on.
Although Dixon loves starting the holiday season early, she knows that she often falls prey to this.
“I personally love it,” Dixon said. “I like to start early, but because I start early, I wind up spending more.”
With retailers aware of this, they drive up impulsive shopping by using phrases such as “last chance” or “limited stock” to create a sense of urgency that makes shoppers believe they’re missing out on a good deal. And as shoppers continue to buy, they take it as demand and shelve the holiday items even earlier the next year.
However, retailers can only continue this cycle as long as consumers continue shopping early. If shoppers stop, retailers will quickly adjust and try to find new ways to bring back that sense of urgency.
“Retailers are data-driven, so if early-season sales dip, they’ll pivot to meet consumer behavior instead of fighting it,” Bryant said. “The market always follows the money.”
All this is a cycle created by retailers and driven by social media to make consumers constantly spend their money. According to Bryant and Dixon, it is a great marketing strategy, but from a cultural standpoint, holidays are becoming more about the things to buy than the memories made by spending time with family and friends. Their advice to students is to see through the hype and make intentional choices.
“For pricier holiday gift ideas or decor, waiting until a week, a week and a half before the actual date can actually save you money,” Dixon said. “Retailers want to cash in on last-minute shoppers, so they offer great sales.”