Will you be self-gifting this Christmas?

A new study shows self-gifting is on the rise, with experts saying people often buy themselves luxury items at Christmas to reward themselves for a year of hard work. And retailers are capitalising on the trend, targeting shoppers with messages about career success and "rewarding themselves".

US retail research firm NPD Group found that by mid-December almost one third of consumers had bought themselves a Christmas gift, up from 19 per cent of shoppers who planned to do so last year.Australian National Retailers Association research found that during the Christmas season last year, almost one in five people aged 18-44 bought themselves a present. People aged over 45 were much less self-rewarding, with only one in 10 buying themselves a gift.Consumer expert Gary Mortimer said people tend to buy themselves presents when they are "whipped up in the frenzy of Christmas".Dr Mortimer said most shoppers self-gift as a way of celebrating the end of the year, or to reward themselves for working hard during the year."It's an excuse to buy things because it's an event," he said.

Dr Mortimer said marketers often capitalise on this and target self-gifters."In glossy magazines, very strong brands like Oroton or Tag Heuer use catchlines along the lines of 'Reward yourself' or 'You deserve it'," he said."More luxury brands target that reward idea and use positive mood reinforcements, to make shoppers think 'I'm already in a good mood so I want to continue that'."

He said people also tend to buy themselves gifts as a form of "post-Christmas stress relief"."We've spent four or five weeks buying gifts for others and that's quite a stressful activity," he said."But after Christmas you don't have to get it done, there's no time pressure and you're going to take advantage of the sales."Dr Mortimer, from the Queensland University of Technology, is currently researching the types of people who self-gift and how they feel after their purchases. He says there is a difference between "treating yourself" by self-gifting and buying yourself things you need, such as clothing, groceries or petrol. He added that some people were more "indulgent" self-gifters while others were more "impulsive"."A lot of planning is involved in indulgent shopping behaviour, you do your research and compare prices before buying big-ticket items like a dishwasher," he said.Dr Mortimer said self-gifting is riskier when it is more impulsive, and when shoppers haven't planned their spending."Impulsive shopping happens when you've gone in to buy the washing machine you've researched and you pick up the DVD player that's on special on your way out," he said."Those who have less willpower than others and are just chasing bargains might have already maxed out the credit card in lead up to Christmas."

Text 8

Practice 1. Choose the key sentence in each paragraph

Practice 2. Read the text to find out the author’s main idea:

1. As the gold price increases, demand for gold and other precious metals has continued to grow.

2. Gold should find support as it tends to benefit from a weak US dollar.

3. 3. It is predicted to increase demand for gold further next year.

4. Demand for exposure to fixed income assets has been a key theme for the last year

Practice 2. Find a key sentence in each paragraph.

Practice 3.Make a review of the text.

Demand for gold has risen 15pc 

By Lara May

Demand for gold has continued to grow in 2012 and is predicted to increase further next year.Research by Source, a provider of exchange traded products, shows that inflows into European gold ETPs have reached $6.8bn this year to date, constituting a staggering 15.4pc growth.

ETPs are funds that are traded on a stock exchange like shares. They are a pooled investment fund, where an individual can gain exposure to a particular indices or commodity, providing the investor with the same returns as the underlying market.

Total gold ETP assets have now reached $44.2bn, in a year when the gold price has increased by 9pc and ranged from $1,540 to $1,790 per ounce.

The strong performance of gold ETPs is indicative of a positive performance of ETPs in general this year. Inflows for the first half of 2012 were the largest ever for the global ETP industry. ETPs attracted net new assets of more than $100bn during the first half of 2012, and this has increased to $218bn this year to date, with particularly strong demand for exposure to income-producing assets.Dodd Kittsley, head of ETP research for BlackRock, said: “The ETP industry continues to gather new assets from investors around the world, who are attracted by the efficient market access ETPs can offer. Demand for exposure to fixed income assets has been a key theme for the last year and shows no sign of abating, as acceptance of the value of an indexed approach to fixed income investing gains increasing traction amongst investors."Willem Sels, UK Head of Investment Strategy for HSBC said that the gold price should rise next year.

"Gold should find support as it tends to benefit from a weak US dollar and it cannot be diluted by ‘money printing’. Moreover, the absence of yield or income on gold has become less of an issue, as yields are negligible on sovereign bonds and cash," he said.