New Public Education Campaign Unveils Survey of Top Holiday-Shopping Turnoffs

YONKERS, N.Y., Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Reports unveiled today its latest public-education campaign that takes aim at pushy holiday-season retail practices. The campaign's centerpiece is a full-page ad in USA Today that will run on November 24, 2009 that highlights three of the top holiday-shopping annoyances as determined by a nationally-representative survey of Americans by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. The list of holiday annoyances that Americans were asked about was generated by the readers of Consumerist.com, a member of the Consumer Reports family.

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The ad takes the form of a "Dear Shopper" letter highlighting pushy holiday-season practices and the percentage of Americans that find them annoying: 52 percent said pushing store credit cards at the register; 58 percent said cashiers that ask for phone number or other personal information; and 62 percent said being hounded with the extended warranty sales pitch. The ad goes on to highlight closed checkout lanes as 72 percent of consumers were annoyed by stores that never open all of the checkout lanes.

While this latest campaign from Consumer Reports follows in the tradition of the "Dear Shopper" campaign that first was introduced in 2006, the content of this ad is a new approach. With the recent acquisition of Consumerist.com, the organization has the ability to leverage its trust and credibility with a whole new set of consumers to take a bottom-up approach to information and public education.

"This ad holds up a mirror to the American public, letting them know that they are not alone this holiday-shopping season," said Jim Guest, president and CEO of Consumer Reports. "Consumers have told us that they just want a hassle-free and convenient shopping experience. We really hope this list of holiday annoyances is a wake-up call for the retail industry."

Previous Consumer Reports public education campaigns during the holiday period have focused on gift cards, extended warranties and consumer debt. In 2007, the organization took on the retail sector and the ubiquitous gift card with a full-page ad in the New York Times, which advised consumers that $8 billion in gift cards go unused and wind up back in the pockets of retailers. The campaign called on retailers and the National Retail Federation to eliminate expiration dates and service fees. In 2006, Consumer Reports took out a full-page ad in USA Today advising consumers to skip the extended warranty. That ad was rebutted by a full-page ad one week later from the Service Contract Industry Council. Following this campaign, the Consumer Electronics Association reported consumer interest in purchasing extended warranties fell 20 percent.

As part of the public-education campaign, Consumer Reports will also launch a holiday shopping hub at www.ConsumerReports.org that will reveal the full list of complaints and offer consumers advice on how to be prepared this shopping season. Consumers can also visit www.Consumerist.com to vent, chat and fight back about what annoys them during the holidays.

Following is the full list of holiday shopping practices and the percentage of Americans that find them annoying:

• 72% Stores that never open all of the checkout lanes
• 68% Fake "sales". If something is always 20% off, it's not on sale
• 67% Coupons that exclude almost everything in the store
• 62% Being endlessly hounded with the extended warranty sales pitch
• 58% Cashiers that ask for your phone number or other personal information
• 56% In-store prices that do not match the same company's on-line prices
• 53% Employees required to up-sell you at the register
• 52% Pushing store credit cards at the register
• 50% Mail in rebates
• 48% Stores that require loyalty cards to get discounts
• 43% Stores that have a minimum purchase requirement for credit cards
• 26% Receipt checkers

"Shoppers are fed up with pushy retailing practices and it is further magnified during the holiday season," said Tod Marks, senior projects editor Consumer Reports. "Consumers are sick and tired of having to be bombarded with questions and offers when all they want to do is pay and leave the register."

MORE CONSUMER THOUGHTS ON THE HOLIDAY-SHOPPING SEASON

Beyond retail practices, during the winter holidays Americans are most annoyed by crowds (29%) and difficulty parking (28%). Other annoyances were singled out by under 1 in 5 shoppers as being No. 1: sales people spraying perfume (16%), bell ringers outside stores (13%). Perfume sprayers were particularly offensive for women (19%) rather than men (12%). Almost no one was most annoyed by holiday music (3%) or store greeters (1%).

There was a time when Black Friday was considered the official start date of the retail madness but that is currently no longer the case as 42% of American feel it is appropriate for stores to begin decorating for and promoting the holidays by Thanksgiving. But most Americans still embrace the traditional schedule -- 54% said that retailers should wait until after Thanksgiving to gear up for the winter holidays.

And when asked about shopping our way out of the recession, 71% of Americans felt no personal responsibility for boosting holiday spending to assist in the U.S. financial recovery.

NOVEMBER 2009

The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports(R) is published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of our information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants.

SOURCE Consumer Reports

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