The Greeting Card Market Survey
The Greeting Card Survey consists of 10,000 German individuals selected from both, the old and the new Federal States. These participants are aged ten and older and have been selected to represent each Federal State in the random-sampling-method, taking the following demographic features such as age, gender, residence size and region into consideration.
This method of sampling ensures that the participants are representative of the total population with respect to the demographic features listed above.
The information provided by the Greeting Card Survey reflects purchases made by private consumers in Germany; it neither provides any information on purchases made by foreigners nor on those made while on vacation. Purchases made by legal entities, authorities and public institutions are likewise not included.
The sampled population receives a calendar sheet which it is required to complete with the details of its weekly card purchases. Then, it returns the completed calendar sheets by the end of each week. The data is collected in the central database and analyzed every four months. The survey is thus logged daily as a diary.
In 2010, private consumers in Germany purchased 637 million greeting cards. This means that each private consumer in Germany aged ten and older bought about 8.3 cards per year. Females buy more than males; younger people under thirty buy unproportionally less than the representative population's average.
Consumer Profile (Basis Quantity, Shares in %), 2010
© GFK Survey Services Deutschland
Due to high fluctuation within the sampling group of foreigners, the group cannot be included in the sampling process. Other groups not qualified for sampling include those groups who make their purchases while on vacation (e.g. local view postcards) away from their permanent residence in another federal state or those that make their purchases at various global sites while on vacation abroad.