Tis the Season for Lies: 3 in 4 People Fake Reactions to Gifts They Don't Like

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 13 Dec 2016

What do you do when you get a gift that you don’t like? Chances are you will fake your reaction when opening the gift and you will flat out lie that you like the gift, when in fact you hate it. You could be honest and say that you don’t like the gift, but statistically speaking, that’s not going to happen.

According to a survey commissioned by Groupon, it takes the average person 5 seconds to make up their mind and decide if they like a present or not. If they like the present, they will be genuinely happy. If they don’t, they will fake a reaction to make you think they’re happy.

Groupon commissioned market researchers OnePoll to run a survey and find out how people react to opening holiday gifts. After surveying 2,000 Americans, OnePoll uncovered that…
  • 8 in 10 people will lie and pretend to like a gift even when they hate it.
  • 3 in 4 people regularly fake their reactions when opening a gift.
  • Only 1 in 10 people will actually tell someone when they don’t like a gift.
The survey uncovered something else: women are bigger fakers than men. While 77% of women regularly fake their reaction to a gift, only 63% of men do the same. And when men don’t like a gift, they’re twice as likely to say something about it. 17% of men will tell the truth when they get a gift they don’t like, compared to just 9% of women.

But the biggest liars have to be grandma and grandpa. The likelihood of admitting you don’t like a present goes down with age. According to the survey, only 8% of people over 55 will admit they don’t like a present.



Via EON press release.

"No one wants to give someone a bad gift this holiday season––and based on our research––they may never even know it if they do," said Silvija Martincevic, vice president and general manager of health, beauty and wellness, Groupon. "The good news is that people aren’t looking for something overly complicated to make themselves happy, but rather something that speaks to their personality, involves one of their favorite hobbies or has sentimental value."



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