Twenty years ago, it wasn’t all that close: residents of New Hampshire opted for real trees over artificial trees by a three-to-one margin.
While a lot of Christmas traditions have held constant, the preference for tree type has been transformed.
“There’s been a fairly significant change over time,” says Andy Smith, the director of the UNH Survey Center.
Smith’s new poll shows that 44% of New Hampshire residents will put up an artificial tree this year, with just 29% opting for a real tree. Nearly a quarter of households will go tree-less, while a sliver of families will opt for both.
The change in tree preference is driven by a few factors, including that artificial trees have become, well, more real-looking in recent decades.
But Smith says there is another driving force: the state’s graying demographics.
“As the state gets older, people are just going to be less inclined to have natural trees, to go through all the trouble of getting trees,” he said. “And if you don’t have kids around in the house, some people just don’t want to bother with a tree at all.”
Survey participants noted that once they owned an artificial tree, they were far less likely to go out and find a real tree. Convenience and cleanliness were also a factor for those who preferred artificial firs.
Real trees saw their biggest declines in popularity between 2014 and 2021, according to polling results. But during the last four years, the preference for each style of tree has remained largely constant.
For those who still prefer a real tree, the smell and look of the natural variety were the driving factors, along with a desire to support local tree farmers.
The survey also looked at holiday movie preferences: “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Die Hard” were the top two favorites among Granite Staters, with “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” finishing third. Clark Griswold’s tree was very real.
