The holiday season is upon us, which means millions of people across the country are preparing to deck the halls and put up Christmas trees.
Christmas trees are about as divisive as they are beautiful. Every year comes the debate: are you team real or team fake?
As it turns out, more people want the real deal this year. A survey by the Real Christmas Tree Board indicates that 20% of Americans are planning to buy a real Christmas tree for the first time this year.
"All kinds of people love and put up real Christmas trees, but the sweet spot is those in their family-raising and memory-making years," Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board, said in a statement.
The board surveyed a representative sample of about 1,500 adults 21 to 54 to get a quantitative picture of their Christmas tree traditions.
The survey shows those who live in urban areas are more likely overall to say they plan to buy a real tree this year (44%), compared to those who live in suburban (34%) or rural (36%) settings.
And they'll likely continue to purchase real trees in the coming years. The majority of those who switched from artificial trees to real trees last year (84%) say they wish they'd done so sooner, according to the survey.
The scent was one of the main reasons people decided to switch.
"The scent of a real Christmas tree actually creates joy: 94% of those planning to buy a real tree agree with the statement, 'The scent of a real Christmas tree will bring me joy this season.' And 95% agree, 'I believe the scent of a real Christmas tree brings joy to others,'" the survey noted.
An additional 40% of those surveyed who put up artificial tree last year say they're leaning toward a real tree this year specifically because of the scent.
The survey also found that 83% of past real tree buyers say they're "worth it" – regardless of price. And that's because the memories associated with the tradition of a real tree are priceless.
"91% of those who switched to a real Christmas tree last year tied it back to raising young families, saying they want their children to continue to experience the joy of having a real tree," the board said.
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