Grandparents can be very thrifty; perhaps Chinese grandparents particularly so because of their threadbare days before China’s economic rise. Yet when it comes to gifts during Spring Festival, they turn out to be the most generous, according to a recent poll.

Out of the total expenditure for gifts throughout the year, the oldest group (aged 75 to 99) spent by far the biggest portion -- 73 percent – of their gift funds on Chinese New Year, compared with merely 50 percent among the youngest (aged 12 to 23), according to a survey on Chinese consumer behavior. One hypothesis for the difference was that the youngsters have other occasions to consider as well, such as birthdays and Valentine’s Day.

The survey was conducted during the winter by Germany’s FOM University of Applied Sciences in partnership with Chinese colleges. Over 11,000 respondents took part in it.

The survey also studied personal wealth’s impact on consumption behavior, finding that as household income decreases, people tend to be more prudent on Chinese New Year gifts.

There is also a difference in how people divide their gift budget throughout the year. Poorer households tend to spend a larger share of their annual spending on New Year's gifts than richer ones, the survey found.

On average, men spent slightly more than women on New Year presents, about 15 percent more. But they tend to be a bit later in their shopping than women, often waiting until a week or the day before the festival, according to the FOM survey.

FOM is Germany’s biggest private university and offers a cooperative study program for Business Administration with Chinese universities. It’s been conducting a survey with Chinese universities on the purchasing behavior of people in China since 2019.