The Tradition of Sending Greetings
People love to send each other greetings and gifts to mark special occasions in life such as birthdays, weddings, passing exams or getting a new job.
This practice is by no means new, and in fact, has been observed for thousands of years.
Many ancient cultures have practiced this custom in their own way for thousands of years before the commercialisation of the tradition, for example, the ancient Chinese exchanged messages of goodwill on new years eve, the Egyptians gave each other papyrus scrolls, Germans - ink printed woodcuts and the Brits sent each other hand made paper Valentines.
The exchange of greetings continued in this way until mass-production was invented via the industrial revolution.
Greetings became more widely available and cheaper which in turn saw more people buying them.
The more people bought, the more were made and during this process the greetings industry was born.
Many of the popular holidays that we celebrate today were born out of this change and the industry has expanded to now include holidays for many different events such as Christmas, birthdays, weddings, new baby, new home, Mothers day, Fathers day, St Patrick's day, other religious holidays, national and international holidays and more.
The industry has also expanded and now not only includes greetings but also gift-giving, decorations, caterers, apps, ecommerce sites and venues.
The greetings industry has responded to high sales in greetings for occasions by creating new events and cards/gifts for them.
Many more unusual and new occasions have been catered for, the most popular of which are all focused around the celebration of events for pets.
This is no surprise when considering the bond between many pet owners and their pet, many feeling that they are part of the family.
You can now buy cards and gifts for your pets' birthday, weddings, graduation (from training school) as well as many others.
These obscure and new events to celebrate are a symbol that the greetings industry is going from strength to strength, with no fear of its popularity dying out, but what is it about greetings that we love so much?
These things are transforming the greetings industry rather than stamping it out.
For example, many people have taken up sending e cards in order to keep up with modern technology and developments on social media as well as try and save money and the environment.
The same people may send someone an e cards for their birthday with an iTunes voucher, both of which are virtual online products.
This is an exciting time for the greetings industry.
It's clear that people enjoy greetings too much to give up, so it will be interesting to see what future transformations are in store.
This practice is by no means new, and in fact, has been observed for thousands of years.
Many ancient cultures have practiced this custom in their own way for thousands of years before the commercialisation of the tradition, for example, the ancient Chinese exchanged messages of goodwill on new years eve, the Egyptians gave each other papyrus scrolls, Germans - ink printed woodcuts and the Brits sent each other hand made paper Valentines.
The exchange of greetings continued in this way until mass-production was invented via the industrial revolution.
Greetings became more widely available and cheaper which in turn saw more people buying them.
The more people bought, the more were made and during this process the greetings industry was born.
Many of the popular holidays that we celebrate today were born out of this change and the industry has expanded to now include holidays for many different events such as Christmas, birthdays, weddings, new baby, new home, Mothers day, Fathers day, St Patrick's day, other religious holidays, national and international holidays and more.
The industry has also expanded and now not only includes greetings but also gift-giving, decorations, caterers, apps, ecommerce sites and venues.
The greetings industry has responded to high sales in greetings for occasions by creating new events and cards/gifts for them.
Many more unusual and new occasions have been catered for, the most popular of which are all focused around the celebration of events for pets.
This is no surprise when considering the bond between many pet owners and their pet, many feeling that they are part of the family.
You can now buy cards and gifts for your pets' birthday, weddings, graduation (from training school) as well as many others.
These obscure and new events to celebrate are a symbol that the greetings industry is going from strength to strength, with no fear of its popularity dying out, but what is it about greetings that we love so much?
- People love to get together with their loved ones in their free time and socialise.
Parties and other events like this that are designed to celebrate an occasion are looked forward to for this reason and part of the fun of a special occasion is to spend time selecting cards or gifts for the recipient.
It makes us feel as though the occasion is extended and that we are involved. - Some people use their gift and greeting purchases to show their emotions about the recipient and spend a long time finding the perfect card or gift for the recipient.
They may try to find items linked to the recipients hobbies or interests or any other personal reason that makes sense, but either way, the time spent searching is a very important part of the process. - There are some people who enjoy spending their money because they have a lot to spare.
These people enjoy buying luxurious gifts for people and have large budgets. - Others share the things that they like with people that they like.
They do this because they have experienced something that they have enjoyed and want to share it with others.
This could be anything from a wonderful box of chocolates, bottle of wine, book, restaurant or holiday location and anything in between!
These things are transforming the greetings industry rather than stamping it out.
For example, many people have taken up sending e cards in order to keep up with modern technology and developments on social media as well as try and save money and the environment.
The same people may send someone an e cards for their birthday with an iTunes voucher, both of which are virtual online products.
This is an exciting time for the greetings industry.
It's clear that people enjoy greetings too much to give up, so it will be interesting to see what future transformations are in store.
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