Christmas songs have shoppers jingling all the way

It turns out that Brits of all ages love their Christmas songs - 93% feel that Christmas tunes should be part of the in-store shopping experience during the holiday period and nearly one fifth (18%) say that Christmas music is their favourite part of festive high street shopping.

These were the findings of a recent survey from the world's largest in-store media specialist, Mood Media.

1 'Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – 23%
2 'White Christmas" by Bing Crosby – 12%
3 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard – 9%
4 'Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade – 8%
5 "All I want for Christmas is you" by Mariah Carey – 7%
6 'Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid – 7%

Shoppers feel carols have a particular time and place, as 75% of those surveyed online by YouGov[1] say music should start on December 1st and not before - to chime with the advent season.

Some like to get into the Christmas spirit even earlier than that, with over a fifth (21%) of Welsh thinking music should start on November 1st, and Northern Ireland close behind at 19%. Maybe it's the Welsh love of music, but almost a third (29%) also rated in-store music as their favourite element of Christmas shopping.

Traditional Christmas songs aren't necessarily the favourites. This year, when asked to choose from a list, almost a quarter of people (23%) said their favourite song was 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

In 2010 a similar survey the most popular song was 'White Christmas' by Bing Crosby, and while it's still in the number two slot with 12% of votes, it's lagging behind the less-than-optimistic Irish folk-style ballad.

The 35-44 age range boosted this into first place as over a third (34%) rated it far and away the best. The youngsters (18-34) were also fans, with 29% voting for it, but it fell out of favour with the 45+ range. Maybe the fact that it was released in 1987 means today's 40 year olds love it because they associate it with first kisses under the mistletoe? Or maybe it shows the more cynical side of the Great British public?