Christmas dinner is all about traditions. Every family has them, and national stereotypes dictate country by country patterns. But, do we really understand the battle for our tastebuds, or do we rely on lazy assumptions? We decided to dig deeper, using social and search data…
It’s not all about the bird. Only 15% of the overall meal conversation discussed turkey, duck, goose or other roasts
Regional differences within the UK are marked:
Northern Ireland really love Christmas dinner, over indexing for conversations
The Welsh love Christmas desserts, again over indexing for searches
Scots are unmoved by mince pies – half the relative interest of other home nations
The Sprout has few advocates, whilst Christmas cake is the surprise winner in sentiment wars
Eight weeks in the making: We begin to research and discuss Christmas dinner from November, but many of us only really engage on the week (or even day of)
Who is winning the battle for our affections?
Waitrose and Tesco are level pegging for mince pie chatter, with Asda second, but Waitrose convert this into action, with the most search interest
Meanwhile, across the wider Christmas dinner conversation, it’s Lidl, Aldi and Iceland who demonstrate the most effectiveness at driving intent, based on search
Chefs who get the hype:
Jamie Oliver
Mary Berry
Nadiya Hussain
So, some of our assumptions are true. We really do love Christmas dinner. The sprout really is polarising. BUT – meat isn’t the be all and end all, turkey sweeps all before it, and if you’re visiting people outside of your home nation, you might want to check what you’re getting…
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