Legal information
Publisher according to § 5 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG).
SCHOLZ & VOLKMER GmbH
Schwalbacher Straße 72
65183 Wiesbaden
Telephone:
+49 (611) 180 99-0
E-Mail:
mail@s-v.de
Managing Directors: Michael Volkmer, Peter Post
Trade register: AG Wiesbaden HRB 10899
VAT ID number: DE 192046611
Foto Harald Welzer: Langreder / S.-Fischer-Verlag
Foto Peter Unfried: Anja Weber
Foto Lothar Seiwert: Seiwert Keynote-Speaker GmbH
Foto Maria Krautzberger: Photostudio D29 Berlin
Foto Lisa Thaens: Über den Tellerrand kochen
Foto „Demonstrieren statt Kaffeekränzchen“: Sven Ehlers
Foto „Kultur erfahren statt Reiseführer“: Carina Adam / Über den Tellerrand kochen
Foto „Hund ausführen statt eigenes Haustier“: Donnie Ray Jones
Contact
If you have any suggestions or questions, please send them to us under opinions or by e-mail.
Note of thanks
We would like to thank everybody who helped us carry out this project. Our special thanks go to: Annika Schulz and Andrea Diefenbach for the great photos.
Blanca Sánchez Goyenechea for translating the website into Spanish.
Also we would like to thank the Kleinen Hotel in Wiesbaden.
Sources
A brief comment up front: we compiled and calculated the data to the best of our knowledge and with the greatest possible care. If you discover an error or have better sources on a topic, we would be grateful if you let us know. Thank you for your help.
Read out loud rather than give a book
The number of books sold a year (379 million) refers to 2006; the figure was taken from a GFK survey. The number of unread books in a household was taken from an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The popularity of books as Christmas gift (44%) refers to 2012; the figure was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
A cooking evening rather than a cookbook
The number of cookbooks sold in 2007 was based on the following data: 379 million were sold in 2006; 10.3% of these were non-fiction (2010), of which 19% were cookbooks in May 2008. Therefore we calculated the sales of cookbooks to be 9.36 million. The number of unused cookbooks in a household (48%) was based on an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The popularity of books as a Christmas gift (44%) refers to 2012; the figure was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
- Sales figures for books in Germany since 2002
- Non-fiction books at Wikipedia
- Share of sales by category on the book market
- The most popular Christmas gifts in 2010
Knitting lessons rather than a sweater
The number of textiles sold per person (13 kg) was taken from an article in the Greenpeace magazine: "Textil - der Stoff, aus dem die Albträume sind" (Textile - the stuff of nightmares). It states that we consume 11-15 kg of clothing per head. The number of unworn clothes in one's own closet was taken from an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of clothes as a Christmas gift (33%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
Fresh forest air rather than perfume
The data on the sales of perfume in 2011 was taken from a survey by the Industrieverband Körperpflege und Waschmittel e. V.; it states that Euro 1.013 million were spent on women's fragrances.
The number of unused perfumes (25%) was based on an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of cosmetics/perfume as a Christmas gift (27%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
A neck massage rather than a scarf
The number of textiles sold per person (13 kg) was taken from an article in the Greenpeace magazine: "Textil - der Stoff, aus dem die Albträume sind" (Textile - the stuff of nightmares). It states that we consume 11-15 kg of clothing per head.
The number of unworn clothes in one's own closet was taken from an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of clothes as a Christmas gift (33%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
Repair rather than replace
70% of people have things in their homes that are broken. This data was collected in an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012.
Revamp rather than buy new decor
The amount of money spent on home decor items and appliances was Euro 87.59 billion in 2011. This information was obtained from the study "Private consumption expenditure and available income - 3rd quarter 2012" conducted by the German Office of Statistics.
The number of "corners in your household that are not 100% finished" (70%) was based on an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of home decor items as a Christmas gift (11%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
A puppet show rather than a toy
We obtained the information that 11.1% of toys sold are dolls from the study "Product group share of sales on the European toy market in 2010" by Toy Industries Europe.
According to the study "Sales on the toy market in Germany from 1994 to 2011 (in millions of Euro)", Euro 2.7 billion were spent on toys in 2011. Based on this, we calculated that Euro 270 million were spent on dolls alone. The number of dolls that are not played with (57%) was taken from an anonymous survey carried out by Scholz & Volkmer with 115 respondents in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of toys as a Christmas gift (36%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
- Product groups on the European toy market in 2010
- Sales on the toy market in Germany since 1994
- The most popular Christmas gifts in 2010
A football game rather than a console
We added the sales of consoles and computer games together in our data. According to the survey "Number of console games and hand-held games sold in Germany from 2003 to 2015* (in millions)" carried out by PwC, 35 million video games and consoles were sold in 2012.
Data collected on "How often do you use computer, console, and online games either alone or together with others?" show that 62% of children aged 6-13 years play on computers several times a week. The figure for the popularity of computer games and consoles as a Christmas gift (14%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
- Sales figures for consoles and video games since 2005
- Frequency with children playing computer games
- The most popular Christmas gifts in 2010
Look at old pics rather than give a camera
According to the survey "Sales of camcorders and digital cameras on the consumer market in Germany from 2005 to 1st half-year 2012 (in 1,000 pieces)", 8.25 million digital cameras were sold in 2011.
The number of "unsorted photos on your hard disk" (100%) was based on an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of cameras as a Christmas gift (4%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
A visit to the zoo rather than a cuddly toy
According to the survey "Sales on the toy market in Germany from 1994 to 2011 (in millions of Euro)", Euro 2.7 billion were spent on toys in 2011.
The number of cuddly toys that are not played with (57%) was taken from an anonymous survey carried out with 115 respondents by Scholz & Volkmer in December 2012. The figure for the popularity of toys as a Christmas gift (36%) was taken from a GFK survey on "The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany from 2010 to 2012" carried out in 2012. When cumulated, the total percentage exceeds 100% because respondents were allowed to give several answers and the questions were analyzed individually, not as an aggregate.
A kiss rather than flowers
The figure for sales of flowers in 2011 was taken from the survey "Sales of cut flowers and house plants in Germany from 2008 to 2011 (in billions of Euro)". The number of roses imported to Germany in 2011 was taken from the survey "Quantity of fresh roses imported to Germany between 2001 and 2011 (in millions of pieces)" and the myclimate survey "Environmental aspects of the flower trade - survey on the environmental impact of cut flower production". The survey "Number of people who do gardening in their leisure time, according to frequency between 2007 and 2011 (in millions)" was our source for the statistic that 24 million people did not do any gardening work in 2011.
- Sales of cut flowers and house plants
- Import of fresh roses to Germany since 2001
- Environmental aspects of the flower trade
- Gifts given on Valentine's day
- Frequency of gardening in leisure time
Demonstrating rather than having a coffee party
The fact that 29 % of the Germans aren’t participating in the elections originates from the official result of the federal elections 2013. 52 % aren’t satisfied with the work of the federal government, according to the results of the ARD-DeutschlandTrend survey “Zufriedenheit mit der Arbeit der Bundesregierung”, which was released October 2016.
Walking a dog rather than owning a pet
From the article “Aussetzen ist keine Lösung”, by the Tierschutzbüro 2012, we learn that about 500.000 pets are abandoned yearly and 70 % of the animals that are turned over to animal shelters have been abandoned due lack of money. The statement which claims that the maintenance for a dog, as well as for a cat, is an average around 60 Euros originates from Tierschutzbüro as well.
Cultural experience rather than a guidebook
The popularity of a book gift for Christmas ( 44 % ) covers the year 2015 and originates from the GFK survey “Beliebteste Weihnachtsgeschenke in Deutschland im Jahr 2015”, from 2015.
The percentage of gifts in total is greater than 100 %, due to the possibility of multiple answers and the fact that each question was valuated separately, not as total sum. The percentage of guidebooks being sold per year (around 25 million) is based on a report by the WDR for the year 2016.
Rescuing toads rather than a leather folder
From the article “Leder: Die Tiere zahlen mit ihrer Haut und ihrem Leben” by PETA we learn, that more than 90% of the marketed food products are treated with chrome, as well as the information that 1 billion animals are being killed for leather production each year. The information that around 160 litres of water are used to produce 1 kilogram of leather is based on the article “Leder: Tierleid und Umweltverschmutzung” by the Albert Schweizer foundation from 2014
Picking mushrooms rather than giving chocolates
The information that Germans waste 18m tonnes of food yearly comes from the WWF survey “Das große Wegschmeißen”, which was published 2015. The popularity of a food gift for Christmas covers the year 2015 and originates from the GFK survey “Beliebte Weihnachtsgeschenke in Deutschland im Jahr 2015”, which was released 2015. The percentage of gifts in total is greater than 100 %, due to the possibility of multiple answers and the fact that each question was valuated separately, not as total sum. The percentage of 68 % packaging waste in the food sector is based on data, which covers the year 2013 and was ascertained by a small request of the Green parliamentary group.
- WWF-Studie „Das große Wegschmeißen“
- The most popular Christmas gifts in Germany in 2015
- Deutsche sind Europameister im Müll-Produzieren
- Mundraub.org: Map für Obst, Nüsse und Kräuter im öffentlichen Raum
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Although the contents of this website were prepared with our utmost care, we cannot assume liability for the correctness, completeness and up-to-date status of the information provided. According to § 7, parag. 1 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG), as a service provider, we are responsible under general law for our own contents on this website. However, according to §§ 8 to 10 of the TMG, as a service provider, we are not obliged to monitor information transmitted or saved by third parties or to research circumstances that suggest an illegal activity. Obligations to remove or block the use of information under general law remain unaffected. However any liability in this respect is only incurred from the moment that we have knowledge of the specific breach of law. As soon as we become aware of legal violations, we will remove such contents immediately.
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