Consumers Say Holiday Ads Spark Joy, But Retargeting Threatens to Ruin Gift Surprises

Most holiday shoppers welcome festive ads, but new data from GumGum reveals that re-targeted ads could risk ruining the season’s biggest gift-giving moments. The findings are from its global holiday shopping survey of 3,000 consumers across the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany, Belgium, and Australia. The data shows that while most shoppers feel neutral or even positive about holiday ads, concerns remain about how re-targeted ads could undermine the season’s biggest moments.

Key findings include:

• Holiday Ads Welcomed When They Build Trust and Spark Joy: Most consumers are receptive to holiday advertising, with more than half (54%) saying they feel neutral about it and nearly one-third (31%) saying they love it. Only a small minority (15%) reported fatigue with holiday ads. 
• Ad Trust Comes Down to Fundamentals: Past brand experience was the top trust factor (53%), followed by reviews (44%) and price guarantees (32%). By contrast, only 12% of consumers pointed to sustainability or social impact as a reason to trust a brand’s holiday promotion. 
• Emotions Also Play A Powerful Role In Shaping How Ads Are Received: Nearly two-thirds (67%) of shoppers said they feel joy when thinking about the holiday season, while others pointed to nostalgia (37%) and anticipation (26%). A smaller but notable share admitted the holidays bring stress (18%) or even feelings of overwhelm (12%). 

“The data shows that when brands spark joy and reinforce trust, holiday ads aren’t just tolerated, they’re welcomed,” says Katy Loria, CRO, GumGum. 

Additional data insights revealed: 

• Retargeting Fears Risk Spoiling the Season’s Biggest Surprises: A majority of consumers (62%) worry that third-party cookies and retargeting could spoil gift surprises, with nearly one in five (17%) being very concerned. Cookies track browsing activity across websites, and retargeting uses that data to serve ads for items recently viewed. This year’s findings reveal that more shoppers are seeing those fears play out. Nearly half (47%) say retargeted ads have spoiled a surprise gift—up from 33% last year—and the share who said it happened “once or twice” rose from 19% to 27%.
• Frustration Has Faded as Shoppers Accept the Reality of Retargeting: While more people are seeing surprises spoiled, fewer say they’re frustrated by it. Only 61% said they would be frustrated if a surprise were revealed this way—down from 77% last year—and those who said they’d be extremely frustrated nearly halved (26% vs. 44%). At the same time, more consumers appear resigned to ad tracking. Those who said “I don’t mind, it happens” nearly doubled year-over-year (7% to 12%). Concern that targeted ads might ruin a surprise dipped slightly (62% to 59%), while confidence that retargeting wouldn’t ruin a surprise increased (30% to 37%).

• Shoppers Are Open To Solutions: Nearly one-quarter (24%) said they would definitely prefer shopping with a brand that offered a “holiday mode” to prevent ads from spoiling surprises, and nearly four-in-ten (39%) said they would possibly prefer it—figures that remain flat year-over-year.

“This data really highlights the importance of respectful, contextually aligned advertising,” added Loria. “By meeting consumers in the right mindset and avoiding invasive retargeting, brands can build trust and deliver performance without risking the magic of the season.”

With GumGum’s AI-powered data engine, the Mindset Graph™, advertisers can deliver contextually aligned, performance-focused advertising that connects with shoppers when it matters most.

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