Is it ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays’?

Written by Nicole Foulke

Do Americans want store employees to greet them with a “Merry Christmas” or a “Happy Holidays” when they are out shopping?

This is the topic of a Pew Research Center survey, where they interviewed a sample of Americans last December, splitting them into two groups.

In the first group, when given a choice between “Merry Christmas” and a less religious greeting, 57% of respondents, the higher percentage, picked “Merry Christmas.”

In the second group, when respondents were given the first group’s same two options, as well as an option to choose “it doesn’t matter,” 46%, the majority, chose “it doesn’t matter.”

The results are very similar to those in Pew’s similar 2005 survey.

Further, the study found a split between Republicans and Democrats, with Republicans preferring the Christmas greeting and Democrats preferring the choice “it doesn’t matter.”

What greeting do you prefer, and why? Tell us in the comments.