DALLAS (ABP) — Christians won't spend as much money this Christmas as their non-religious counterparts, but the Christian retail industry continues to expand exponentially, according to recent reports.
Researchers who conducted a recent Gallup Poll said no relationship exists between “one's depth of religious commitment and one's Christmas budget.” The results are surprising in light of the fact that Christmas is one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar.
“In fact, less religious Americans may spend more on Christmas gifts than do active practitioners,” the Nov. 9 report said.
According to the survey, people who seldom or never attend a place of worship said they will spend an estimated average of $853 on gifts this year, compared with roughly $800 for those who worship either weekly or nearly weekly.
But Christmastime restraint on the part of Christians hasn't hurt the bottom line in the Christian retail industry, which makes $4.5 billion annually. Experts say the market for Christian books, trinkets and décor will grow to $9.5 billion by 2010.
Don Montuori, of market research publisher Packaged Facts, said the variety of readily available Christian products has attracted consumers of all ages and denominations, which is why the growth has occurred so quickly and strongly.
“The floodgates, so to speak, have truly opened up in the last few years as blockbuster books, Grammy-winning CDs, and films … have ignited an unprecedented national interest in and acceptance of religious fare,” Montuori said in the report.
Books in particular, like bestsellers The Da Vinci Code and The Purpose Driven Life, dominate the Christian market, garnering 52 percent of 2005 sales, according to the report. It's estimated that almost 29 percent of Americans have read Dan Brown's mystery novel, while 19 percent have read Rick Warren's Christian living handbook.
Christopher Bader, an assistant professor of sociology who participated in Baylor University's September survey on religion in America, said many people manifest their religion by book buying — except in the case of Brown's novel. The Baylor report found that as church attendance increases, the likelihood of reading The Da Vinci Code decreases.
Still, Protestant evangelicals are by far the most likely people to spend more than 50 dollars a month on religious goods, Bader said. Nearly 12 percent of Americans spend more than $50 a month on religious products. An additional 11 percent spend $25 to $29, according the Baylor survey.
Those numbers increase significantly during the holidays. Gallup reports that 34 percent of adults nationwide plan to spend $1,000 or more on gifts this year. The mean estimated expenditure for all Americans, $826, is Gallup's highest early-November reading since 2000.
An additional 25 percent of Americans will spend between $500 and $999 on gifts, 15 percent will spend between $250 and $499, and 17 percent will spend less than $250. Men will spend an average of $929, while the average for spending by women this year is $728.
But in spite of the vast amounts of money circulated during the holidays, many Americans apparently don't relish the pressure to spend. Fifty-seven percent of Americans in a 2000 Gallup Poll said they do not enjoy Christmas shopping. Eighty-five percent said Christmas is too commercialized.
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