Christmas Eve gift shopper? You’re far from alone, but everyone’s reasons vary widely

What’s that old saying? Something about good intentions and their usefulness in laying down blacktop to warm places...

A dozen or so people stand ahead of me and two dozen more stand behind me, the lot of us forming a line in a store at a mall, waiting to buy one last thing for one last person on Christmas Eve.

I’m doing this during my work break—you’re reading this, so assume I achieved gifts-left-to-go-zero and made it back not so late that I got canned.

I’m doing this because a gift fell through yesterday, and Dec. 24 or not, I will leave no one behind.

Others here might have other reasons.

“There isn’t just one type of last-minute Christmas Eve shopper,” said Rhiannon Mesler, marketing professor at the University of Lethbridge and an expert in consumer behaviour and decision-making.

“In fact, people end up in the mall for very different psychological reasons, and ‘last minute’ doesn’t necessarily mean careless, unthoughtful or unloving, even though the stereotype implies it does.”

Which one are you?

There are four types of “last-minute Christmas Eve shopper” Mesler can identify off the top of her head.

The decisive closer

Mesler says this person likes the last minute—thrives in it, even.

“Too much time creates overthinking and decision paralysis, while a deadline brings clarity,” she said.

“With limited options, they feel more decisive, competent, and efficient.

“Psychologically, time pressure simplifies choices and boosts confidence.”

The coverage co-ordinator

Mesler says this person is often part of a couple or family team.

“This shopper isn’t browsing—they’re auditing,” she said.

“They’re filling gaps: the teacher gift, the forgotten aunt, the one thing that didn’t quite get covered.

“This is practical problem-solving, often done together, and sometimes with a quiet sense of, ‘OK, I’ll fix this last part.’”

The courtesy responder

Mesler says this person is reacting to surprises.

“(It could be) a last-minute invitation, unexpected guests or a newly realized obligation,” she said.

“The gift isn’t about perfection—it’s about social care.

“Psychologically, the gesture matters more than the object itself.”

The bandwidth-limited giver

Mesler says this person is a chronically busy professional or maybe a student who only just got home after exams.

“The intention was always there, but the time or mental space to execute wasn’t,” she said.

“This is a classic intention-execution gap, not a lack of thoughtfulness.

“Often, these folks have clear ideas of what they want to purchase—they just haven’t had the chance to get out and do it.”

Timing no indicator of caring

Regardless of your tribe, you still have time to accomplish what you need to accomplish.

Probably.

Depends on when you’re reading this.

It’s 1 p.m. or so as I’m writing it, in my car.

Calgary and area’s major malls are open today, albethey with modified hours:

• Chinook Mall is open until 5 p.m.;
• The Core is open until 5 p.m.;
• CrossIron Mills is open until 5: p.m.;
• Market Mall is open until 5 p.m.;
• Marlborough Mall is open until 5 p.m.;
• Southcentre mall is open until 5 p.m.; and
• Sunridge is open until 5 p.m.

Hours for other shopping spots in and around the city might vary.

As a closing thought, Mesler offers that people shop on Christmas Eve because “gifts function as symbols, not proof of moral worth.”

“Timing doesn’t reliably tell us how much someone cares,” she said.

“A last-minute gift isn’t objectively worse, or better, than one planned weeks in advance, and anyone who’s been in a mall lately knows last-minute shoppers are in very good company!”

Mesler says no, people who do this to themselves, for whatever reason, are not sick.

She says yes, we’ll be OK.

“The fact that people still push through crowded malls at the last possible moment mostly reflects how seriously we take showing up for others, even under pressure,” she said.