Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate • Hacker News Board

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#21

Post by AmazingBytecode » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:07 PM UTC

maeon3 wrote: post #11

Might get better results by making reference to scripture and glorifying Christ the savior as the reason for the season. The sheep are trained to gather around and financially support anything with gods name in it. This effect is not an accident. It is the result of organized brainwashing that happens all over America between the hours of 9:30 and noon on Sunday.

Might get better results by making reference to science and glorifying Dawkins the savior as the reason for the season. The free thinkers are trained to gather around and financially support anything with Dawkins' name in it.

This effect is not an accident. It is the result of organized back-patting that happens all the time on the Internet

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#22

Post by inuhj » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:08 PM UTC

bradleyland wrote: post #5

I think this is driven by the rejection of political correctness. In an ironic twist, I get the sense that more people are put off by politically correct language than are accomodated. If there's a flaw in this strategy, it is that minorities are marginalized. You might avoid offending a Jewish (just an example) minority by using the term "Christmas", but you'll engender an emotional reaction in a larger number of pe…

You could use last name as a predictor and send out Happy Hanukkah emails.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#23

Post by duggan » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:20 PM UTC

Worth noting that "happy holidays" is not something used colloquially outside of America (to the best of my knowledge).

Sure, we understand the context, but it's not something English speaking Europeans say to each other :) I'd be hesitant to suggest that alone is the cause, but might be an interesting additional data point.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#24

Post by js2 » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:24 PM UTC

Too bad there's no measure of the conversion rate among non-Christians.

Also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpqknwKbvDE :-)

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#25

Post by reuven » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:29 PM UTC

bradleyland wrote: post #5

I think this is driven by the rejection of political correctness. In an ironic twist, I get the sense that more people are put off by politically correct language than are accomodated. If there's a flaw in this strategy, it is that minorities are marginalized. You might avoid offending a Jewish (just an example) minority by using the term "Christmas", but you'll engender an emotional reaction in a larger number of pe…

Not all minorities are offended by mentions of Christmas. I'm Jewish, and find the whole "Happy Holidays" thing to be bizarre and unnecessary. Christmas is a major Christian holiday. Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. The only thing that they have in common is that they both take place at roughly the same time of year.

If you're Christian, and want to celebrate Christmas, then that's great; go for it! Don't go watering down your holiday messages, or attempt to include Hanukkah in your celebrations. (Government and the public sphere is a different thing, at least in the US.)

I live in Israel nowadays, where Christmas exists mostly as an item on the TV news. But I still find it amazing that anyone would be offended when someone expresses excitement and positive feelings about their own holidays.

Meanwhile, I found this marketing test to be fascinating, and a great demonstration of the need to actually test, rather than just go with gut feelings.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#26

Post by bradleyland » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:38 PM UTC

reuven wrote: post #25

bradleyland wrote: post #5

I think this is driven by the rejection of political correctness. In an ironic twist, I get the sense that more people are put off by politically correct language than are accomodated. If there's a flaw in this strategy, it is that minorities are marginalized. You might avoid offending a Jewish (just an example) minority by using the term "Christmas", but you'll engender an emotional reaction in a larger number of pe…

Not all minorities are offended by mentions of Christmas. I'm Jewish, and find the whole "Happy Holidays" thing to be bizarre and unnecessary. Christmas is a major Christian holiday. Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. The only thing that they have in common is that they both take place at roughly the same time of year. If you're Christian, and want to celebrate Christmas, then that's great; go for it! Don't go water…

I lay no claim that all minorities will be offended, only that a minority population exists that will be offended. My personal preference is to just use the language you want. I'm of the generation that rejected the PC cultural influences developed by our aging parents.

My words are merely a caution against blindly following the numbers. The impact of "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" may be innocuous, but you will inevitably face more impactful decisions where the best conversion may come at the price of marginalizing a minority unfairly.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#27

Post by FaceKicker » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:45 PM UTC

famousactress wrote: post #18

patio11 wrote: post #3

Tried this for BCC last year on a lark. Christmas crushed.

As always.. I'm super curious about the answer to the question that ultimately doesn't matter much in the conversion-context.. Why? Given your history w/ testing like this, I'm curious if you see value in asking 'why', and whether or not there are useful ways to get an answer. It seems like in addition to satisfying my curiosity about human psychology, it would be helpful in informing next-tests to make the entire pr…

I'm not patio11, but my guess (completely speculating here, of course) would be that "Merry Christmas" sounds more like something someone you know in a casual context (friends, family, etc.) would say to you, whereas "Happy Holidays" is used more by companies, which tend to try harder to be politically correct. When users see "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays", they might be more likely to just read the subject line and open the message without checking the sender, assuming it's from a friend. "MC" also sounds (to me) more like an email that is being sent with a specific purpose (as opposed to just a reminder that the company exists), e.g., maybe the company is offering you free bingo cards as a gift.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#28

Post by jordan0day » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:46 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #3

Tried this for BCC last year on a lark. Christmas crushed.

Out of curiosity, did you have a control? That is, was it "Merry Christmas from BCC!" vs. "Happy Holidays from BCC!" vs. "[Normal email subject] from BCC!"?

I'm curious to know how much "Merry Christmas" improves results vs. a baseline compared to how much "Happy Holidays" may hurt results, as has been suggested by others. The linked article only compares "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays", which makes it hard to know if "Merry Christmas" is really helping, or if "Happy Holidays" is only hurting.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#29

Post by grannyg00se » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 8:46 PM UTC

Seriously? A subject line with such a trivial change makes that much of a difference? It's the same email. A "please remember to buy from us while we cash in on the commercialization of the holiday" email from a retailer. I'm surprised to find out that people are actually influenced by that slight change in subject header.

Re: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, winner = nearly double conversion rate

#30

Post by anamax » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 9:05 PM UTC

bradleyland wrote: post #26

reuven wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all minorities are offended by mentions of Christmas. I'm Jewish, and find the whole "Happy Holidays" thing to be bizarre and unnecessary. Christmas is a major Christian holiday. Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. The only thing that they have in common is that they both take place at roughly the same time of year. If you're Christian, and want to celebrate Christmas, then that's great; go for it! Don't go water…

I lay no claim that all minorities will be offended, only that a minority population exists that will be offended. My personal preference is to just use the language you want. I'm of the generation that rejected the PC cultural influences developed by our aging parents. My words are merely a caution against blindly following the numbers. The impact of "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" may be innocuous, but you wi…

> I lay no claim that all minorities will be offended, only that a minority population exists that will be offended.

There's always someone who will be offended, no matter what you do. (Example - some folks are offended by "Happy Holidays", and the reasons are not mutually consistent.)

Some minorities are worth worrying about but others aren't, and they're not the same in every situation.