Indians are fiscally responsible globally but not locally

Festival gifting: Indians are the most fiscally responsible globally, but don’t practice what they preach says Western Union survey

Western Union commissioned eight-country global survey conducted by Wakefield unravels Indian gifting practices

Mumbai, India, 8 December 2011 – When it comes to festival gifting, Indians don’t practice what they preach. India is the most fiscally responsible country surveyed with 75 percent of Indians budgeting for last festival season. However, budgeting aside, 72 percent spent more than they had budgeted, according to an independent global gifting survey conducted by Wakefield Research and commissioned by Western Union.

Indians are resilient, even though they haven’t adhered to budgets in the last festival season, 87 percent still plan to make a budget for future festival gifting.

The pressure to find the perfect gift for loved ones gets to Indians and their budgeting, as it does for people from Brazil, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, UAE, UK and US.

Indians don’t gift in the same spirit as they prefer. More than half of Indians (51%) would rather receive a cash gift of Rs1000 over a physical gift of the same value. However, when Indians eventually gift to family and loved ones, a majority (65%) opt for a physical gift at the risk of overspending.

Indians most like to make the lives of their children (36%), mum (26%) and dad (13%) better, over spoiling their significant other (4%). This is in contrast to all the other countries surveyed which gave greater priority to making their significant others’ lives better (13-31%).

“Indians may not have to empty their pockets to find the perfect gift after all,” said Kiran Shetty, regional Vice President, Western Union India.

“Giving cash is an easy way for gift givers to make their loved one’s day better allowing them to purchase what they really want and need. Gifting cash also helps better manage festival-related expenses including the unforeseen costs associated with physical purchases – gift choice, transportation, wrapping and overall time constraints,” he said.

The Western Union® Global Gifting Survey highlights:

• Budget blues: 75% of Indians made a budget for last festival season’s spending, but most didn’t follow it. Only 28% spent exactly or less than what they had budgeted, and 72% exceeded their budget.

• Budget Blueprint: More Indians are planning ahead when it comes to their future festival spending; 87% plan on making a budget.

• Busted Budgets: Indians may have good intentions, but many don’t think they’ll necessarily stick to a budget this year; 68% said they will spend more money than they have budgeted to find the perfect gift.

• Festivals dilemmas: Finding the perfect gift (21%) was the number one worry among Indians. Overspending (18%) is also high on the list, tied for second with seeing family (18%). Other top concerns include eating too much or being unhealthy (13%), and work commitments (12%).

• Cash anytime: Over half of Indians (51%) would rather have Rs 1000 in cash than a gift worth Rs 1000. Despite this, more than two-thirds (65%) are – mistakenly – not likely to be gifting cash to those on their gift lists.

• Thrifty Thinking: Festival expenses add up quickly, and 88% of Indians are cutting back on luxuries to meet them. In particular, many will avoid spending on clothing (45%), eating at restaurants (38%), and spending on entertainment (37%).

• Responsible receivers: Those that get what they wish for – cold hard cash – would most likely spend it wisely. Saving or investing it (31%) is the top way Indians would spend their festival cash. This is followed by using it for festival-related spending other than gifts (24%), using it to buy a gift for someone else (17%), and donating it to charity (12%).

• Community giving: Despite the financial stress the festival season can sometimes bring, 65% are planning on donating to a charity. Most Indians prefer to donate clothing (34%), cash (32%), food (23%) and time (9%).

The Western Union® 2011 Global Gifting Survey found that people are more alike than different when it comes to festival shopping, saving money, and wanting to please their loved ones.

The survey, commissioned by Western Union and conducted by Wakefield Research polled nationally representative adults aged 18 years and older between September 21 and October 21, 2011 in the following countries: 1,000 respondents in the U.S., 500 respondents in Mexico, 500 respondents in Germany, 500 respondents in India, 500 respondents in Brazil, 500 respondents in the UAE, 500 respondents in S. Africa, and 500 respondents in the U.K.

Recently, the company launched Western Union® World of Betters, one program of many designed to help raise awareness on the many ways we can make someone’s day better.

Eligible participants should visit www.worldofbetters.com and upload their entry of no more than 100 words describing how they would use US$1,000 to make the world a better place. Participants are then encouraged to tell their family and friends to view their story and vote on the website. Public voting will determine 500 entries, from which a judging panel will select 100 Western Union World of Betters ideas, and winners will receive the equivalent of US$1,000 cash to bring their idea to life. Those entering the contest should submit their entries by 11:59:59 p.m. GMT on December 15, 2011.

To learn more and submit an entry, visit www.worldofbetters.com, click on the enter button to complete the registration form and follow the instructions on how to submit the entry. The site is available in English, Spanish, French, and German, with some pages available in Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. No purchase necessary to enter or win. Entry is subject to the Official Rules available at www.worldofbetters.com. Void where prohibited by law.

About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of September 30, 2011, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 485,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2010, The Western Union Company completed 214 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $76 billion of principal between consumers, and 405 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

ENDS

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