What is the "Christmas Creep?"

"The Christmas Creep" sounds like a scary old man that "creeps" on people through out the holiday season. But actually, it's the phenomenon that the Christmas season seems to be creeping up on us earlier and earlier every year.  Many people tend to complain about Christmas and the various holiday merchandise being put out for sale months before Christmas Day, but very few understand why.  Many people are going as far as signing petitions to put a halt to the Christmas creep. 

Bonnie Knutson, a hospitality business professor at Michigan State University and expert in buying trends and strategic marking says, people have less money to spend in the current economy but they are always willing to spend on their children and family. Since people have less money to spend, retail stores are trying to get an advantage by marketing their items well in advance in order to get the early dollar. 

Dr. R. Dale Wilson explained that because of the "cumulative effect", many repetitive Christmas ads actually have an impact on consumers. The first time a person sees an ad, it might not have any effect on them. But after the third or fourth time, the ad becomes effective and sticks with them. 

When Christmas supplies are put out early, people may complain and not want to buy goods right then and there. But once they realize they need a good from that store, they will remember that store carried the item they once were complaining about and go back and buy it. 

As much as the Christmas creep gets on people's nerves, it has been effective and will probably continue creeping up on us earlier and earlier.