It seems regardless of what month we are in, there's a holiday where we are encouraged to buy gifts for friends and family.Christmas is the most popular time of year when many people go on a gift-giving frenzy. But how did Christmas become so commercial?
"The Three Wise Men brought gifts, doesn't that mean gifts are about Christmas?" jokes Alan Middleton, professor of marketing, Schulich School of Business at York University in North York.
Even prior to Christian era, the need to celebrate this time of year always involved gift giving, Middleton said.
That being said, when did gift-giving transcend the actual meaning of the holiday and become the focus?
Middleton said Christmas as a gifting, consuming activity really got going in Victorian Europe, where it was blended with the traditional meaning - an actual Saint Nicholas giving presents to the poor.
Then marketing changed the tradition completely.
"In the 1920s, Coke dressed him (Saint Nicholas) in red and white and that became the figure," he said. "The fat, jolly, bearded, dressed in red and white gentleman is all Coca-Cola."
It accelerated even more in the 20th and the 21st century. Today, the meaning of Christmas depends on the individual, Middleton said.
In terms of Christmas being too commercial, Middleton said there are two things that drive that criticism: The length of time Christmas is marketed and the sheer numbers of products available to buy.
"A hundred years ago it was food and maybe alcohol and maybe a few other things, that was it. Now it's not just the toys or cosmetics, virtually every category of products has gift orientation," Middleton said.
For many retailers, it's a make or break time and they strive to make a chunk of their sales.
"If they're not doing a good 40 per cent of your year's business at this time of year, they have a problem," he said.
This may explain why decorations and Christmas sales start so early, generally after Thanksgiving.
"Retailers think 'I'm going to start my sales even before Christmas to really make sure they spend the money'," he said.
Other reasons for commercialism at Christmas are people living longer so the list of "to buy for" gets longer plus there are the issues of divorce and blended families.
"Although the families may have shrunk in size, there are grandparents, brothers and sisters and cousins, step-parents, step-grandparents, stepbrothers and it all equals big gifting opportunities," he said.
Parents are especially under pressure from their kids to buy them the popular gadgets of the day.
Guilt and the need to belong are huge factors as to why people buy so much at Christmas, Middleton said. Gift giving becomes a family unifier for parents, especially divorced parents, who may feel guilty about not spending enough time with kids.
"The need to feel part of something, a family, and demonstrating that even though you may not have seen them much all year, it's the idea of making up for it at a special time of year," he said.
It's also a reflection on society as people need to feel important via gift giving. Simply put, giving to makes you feel good, but there are other not-so-nice motivations.
"There are societal pressures of giving gifts because you feel obligated to," he said. "People think 'If I don't (buy gifts) they aren't going to think I'm very nice' or 'Unless I give a really big gift, I'm going to be thought of as cheap.'"
Commercialism at Christmas won't be going away anytime soon, but eventually people will say 'enough' and find ways to manage it, Middleton said.
"The more long-term trend is ever-more commercialization; that's the reality," he said. "Starting even earlier, more and more gift ideas and special packages... that will continue."