‘Face masks are least wanted Christmas gift’

A new survey has revealed that face masks, hand sanitizers and other personal protective equipment against the coronavirus are among the least-wanted gifts during this year’s Christmas.

While the pandemic-safe gifts failed to drum up enthusiasm, cash and gift cards were the most wanted gifts, found the survey conducted by job reccrutiing portal Incruit.

Though antivirus items remain crucial amid the ongoing pandemic, people are not looking forward to receiving them as gifts for the holiday season, an Incruit official explained.

Earlier this year, the government rationed face masks to cope with a severe shortage, though they are now widely available.

Cash was the most preferred gift among all age and gender groups, though those in their 20s preferred tech gadgets such as smartphones, smartwatches and smart speakers.

Nearly half of those surveyed said that they planned to buy Christmas gifts this year. Some 28.8 percent said the gifts would be for their partners, while 17.6 percent said they plan to shop gifts for themselves. Children, parents and friends followed as the next likely gift recipient, the survey found.

The survey asked 919 adult respondents what they wanted as a gift for the holiday season.

It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)