Seasonal guilty pleasure

With Christmas just around the corner, foot traffic in the country’s shopping centers has considerably increased.

It helps that the earlier restrictions on the movement of people for COVID-19-related reasons have been substantially eased and so commercial activities are slowly going back to prepandemic levels.

Except for some areas, e.g., hospitals and medical clinics, the wearing of a face mask in public is optional or left to individual judgment.

The current 8-percent inflation rate does not seem to discourage or deter many Filipino families from celebrating the season the customary way, i.e., buying gifts for themselves and their loved ones, and food for the traditional family reunion.

It has been said that no matter how hard the times may be, the Filipino family will find ways and means (even to the extent of going into hock) to happily celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

Rightly or wrongly, that disposition may be considered a part of the Filipino DNA.

For those who have received or are assured of receiving their 13th month pay, the additional money is an incentive to enjoy the holidays with a vengeance. The suggestion by some economists to instead save or invest those extra funds often falls on deaf ears.

The same situation applies to the families of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) who, by invoking the spirit of the season, are able to convince their breadwinners to increase their monthly remittance.

The refrain “Christmas happens only once a year and so it should be enjoyed” has proven to be persuasive or effective in both instances.

The owners of shopping centers, including online sellers, have been quick to take advantage of that financial condition by coming up with various promos that encourage their customers or target market to be more liberal in their spending habits.

For brick-and-mortar stores, the retail sales during the holiday season are believed to represent approximately 20 percent of the total sales for the entire year.

It’s a once-in-a-year business opportunity they cannot afford to miss or exploit to the fullest. After two years of stagnant business operation, there is a good chance of reducing their losses.

For some people, the spending spree that usually happens at this time of the year may be considered a form of “guilty pleasure” or something to be enjoyed despite questions or reservations about its propriety.

It may also go by the name “revenge spending” or making up for the inability to go on shopping trips during the months the government imposed quarantine measures to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Those who are able to indulge in it without hurting their wallets feel good and experience positive emotions. It is something they must have felt deprived of in the past two years.

And that feeling is enhanced by advertisements in the media and other communication platforms that describe Christmas as “the most wonderful time of the year.”

That uplifting pitch, plus the penchant of many Filipinos to try to keep up with the Joneses, has made this season’s shopping spree an acceptable excuse for indulging in that guilty pleasure.

The line often used to burnish the not-so-pleasant impression of that behavior in these times of economic hardship is, the money spent to buy goods, in particular the locally made, gives income to their manufacturers and helps defray their expenses and pay the salaries of their employees.

In other words, without that money flow, some of those businesses may find it difficult to get back on their feet; worse, they will be unable to give their workers the money they need to cope with the financial demands of the season. What a pity.

Somehow, that line of reasoning makes sense. Between keeping the money in the banks and having it circulate in the economy by way of purchase of goods and services, the latter is clearly more productive. INQ