Survey Finds Increasing Number Of Hopeful Shoppers On Thanksgiving Holiday

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Even as Thanksgiving shopping has earned its share of critics, more people planned to shop on Thursday than had in 2014, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation's Thanksgiving Weekend Expectations.

The survey found that, of the 58.7 percent of adults surveyed who said they would, or might, shop during Thanksgiving weekend, 22.3 percent said they planned to shop on the holiday itself.

That's higher than the 18.3 percent who said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving in 2014.

Thanksgiving shopping continues to prove more popular with younger adults than older adults, according to the survey of 7,172 adults conducted from Nov. 3 to Nov. 10 by Proper Insights & Analytics.

25.4 percent of 18-24 year olds said they planned to shop Thanksgiving, while 32.7 percent of the 25-34 year olds, and 28.9 percent of the 35-44 year olds agreed.

Meanwhile, only 20.2 percent of 45-54 year olds said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving, and even fewer 55-64 year olds agreed, at 17.8 percent. Only 10.1 percent of participants aged 65 or older planned to shop on the holiday.

"Millennials love shopping in stores and online over Thanksgiving weekend for several reasons, including the opportunities afforded to them that allow them to splurge on 'non-gifts' for themselves, and even the potential to sleep in on Black Friday after having spent the night before bouncing from store to store," Prosper's principal analyst Pam Goodfellow said.

"For these adults, it's less about making room for pumpkin pie and more about going out with friends, checking out the deals through their mobile phones and experiencing retailers' night owl hours and perhaps making a dent in their shopping lists."

Retailers have drawn plenty of criticism for opening on Thanksgiving, because of the disruption it causes in the lives of their employees and for dividing families on a holiday known from bringing them together.