Posti and IRO Research have conducted a study to find out the status of different Christmas greetings in Finland. According to the results, Finns value mailed Christmas cards above all other types of Christmas greeting. The most important reason to send Christmas cards is to make the recipient happy.
In October, Posti and IRO Research asked 1,000 Finns about their opinion on how important cards are as a form of holiday greeting. According to the responses, it seems cards are viewed as very important. Two thirds of all Finns (66%) are planning to send Christmas cards or letters this year. Only 17% of the respondents are not planning to send any kinds of Christmas greetings.
The most important reason for Finns to send out Christmas cards is to make the recipient happy (94%). Maintaining Christmas traditions (85%) and reciprocity (81%) are other important motives for sending cards. The motivations vary slightly among different genders. Men are more likely to send cards out of a sense of duty, whereas women are more interested in making the recipient happy and having the opportunity to make their own cards.
The respondents were also asked to select the Christmas greeting they value the most. Four out of ten (40%) preferred Christmas cards made by the sender and sent by mail. The next most valued were purchased cards sent by mail, cards made from your own photos and Christmas letters. E-mails and text messages and personal and public social media messages received a total of 6% of all votes.
“All respondent groups liked home-made cards. Their popularity indicates that Finns value Christmas greetings that have required a bit of effort. That people want to make the recipient happy means that Christmas is a special time. It’s the season of giving and personal relationships. A Christmas greeting carried to your doorstep brings people closer even when they don’t normally keep in touch,” explains Johanna Rouhe, Product Manager at Posti.
The most affordable way to mail Christmas cardsis with a Christmas no-value indicator stamp (EUR 1.05), for examplethrough the red envelopemeant for mailing Christmas greetings. This year, the last mailing date for cards with a Christmas no-value indicator stamp is December 12. Cards with a regular domestic no-value indicator stamp (EUR 1.50) will reach their recipients by Christmas if they are mailed by December 19.
“A home-made Christmas card must be sent in an envelope. It won’t make the price higher, but the card will stay in better shape,” Rouhe notes.
More information on the survey:
The survey The status of Christmas cards as a form of Finnish Christmas greeting 2018 involved information gathering online through the national online consumer panel provided by IRO Research. A total of 1,000 interviews were conducted over the period September 28–October 4, 2018. The sample is selected based on age, gender, type of place of residence and county of residence to be representative of the population of Finns at the national level. The survey’s statistical margin of error is approximately +3.2 percentage points at most.
