Is it Christmas again already?

WOW, another year has flown by and Christmas is almost upon us again. So we wondered whether Australians were feeling ‘stressed out’ about the upcoming festive season and canvassed their thoughts again (via our online omnibus survey) to find out.

The latest Christmas Stress Index (CSI*) score of 48 places us in the ‘medium stress’ category (which was also the case last year) highlighting that we’ve been a little less stressed in the last couple of years.

The CSI was originally developed by data scientists Nulink Analytics and has been conducted together with Di Marzio Research since 2012. The CSI elicits a stress score based on eight attitudinal statements to determine the level of stress being experienced by Australians in the lead up to Christmas.

Over the past two years our research has uncovered four segments who experience different levels of stress which we’ve named…
1. It’s under control
2. She’ll be right
3. Too much expense
4. Too fast

The proportions of Australians falling within each of these segments has changed. There are now fewer Australians in the ‘It’s under control’ and ‘Too much expense’ segments and more within ‘She’ll be right’ and the ‘Too fast’ segments.

We also noticed some differences in the CSI scores for each but effectively there are two segments who are more relaxed and two who are quite stressed (as outlined below).

Each group has a distinct profile…

Middle-aged males 2018 CSI = 41 Average age = 44 Not fussed by the occasion. Let’s others do the stressing 67% agree ‘I’m not at all worried about Christmas and the Christmas season this year – it always seems to work out OK’	Empty nesters 2018 CSI = 44 Average age = 65 Leave it to their adult children to organise and stress about 66% agree I’m not at all worried about Christmas and the Christmas season this year – it always seems to work out OK
Millennials 2018 CSI = 51 Average age = 23 Short of a buck and ‘stressing out’ about it 47% agree ‘I am worried about the expense of Christmas this year’	Middle-aged mums 2018 CSI = 56 Average age = 40 Family Christmas CEO. Absorbs most responsibility and stress 68% agree ‘I am feeling that Christmas is coming on much too fast this year‘

We wonder which segment you fall into?  Regardless of your level of ‘stressmas’, we hope you find time to relax and enjoy the festivities with family, friends and loved ones and wish you all the best for Christmas and the new year ahead.

Paul & Kim Di Marzio from Di Marzio Research

Scott Maclean from Nulink Analytics

* The Christmas Stress Index was originally developed by Nulink Analytics in 2012, following anecdotal evidence that “things are not as they used to be” in the lead-up to the Christmas season.

Eight statements concerning attitudes to the Christmas season were devised, with responses being measured on a 5-point agree/disagree scale.

The index itself is computed as a weighted combination of the responses obtained and are rescaled as a score of 0 to 100. Four categories of stress were defined – low (25 or under), medium (26-49), high (50-74) or very high (75+).

Detailed analysis of the Index by different socio-economic and demographic sub-groups confirms its appropriateness as a reflection of underlying feelings regarding Christmas, and the stress associated with this time of the year.