1.1.2 The Perception of the Christmas Season
Christmas season is the time of tradition and family rituals. Clarke (2007, p. 9) notes that people hold positive or negative feelings towards Christmas. In further explanation, he states that “consumption is emotionally driven and feelings relate to emotions. Regardless of positive or negative feelings held, people take deci-sions based on those feelings not only towards Christmas but in further considera-tion also towards Christmas celebration and Christmas shopping. The perception of children towards Christmas and Christmas markets can be differentiated from those of adults. Children associate the festive season with materialistic benefits through presents and gifts whereas parents’ perceptions come along with past Christmas events and ethical and cultural background. Hence, peoples Christmas spirit influences the manner of participation in Christmas activities. This Christmas spirit can be recognized in family rituals, a repeating events, involving numerous family members who are performing a highly cultural ritual (Clarke, 2007; Pleck, 2000).
1.2 The Tradition of Christmas Markets
The existence of Christmas markets goes far back into the medieval and modern era, when people were selling clothing and food during a fair in the holiday season before Christmas (IMOHA, 2002, p. 3). This
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The re-searcher needs to break through the participants’ walls and has to take their fear, of giving a wrong statement or of reflecting a false opinion. In this type of qualita-tive research, it is of great importance to reach the contrary, to reach the pure opinion of each individual and to break through to the dissenting judgments that disclose new perspectives. In addition, a “secured area” is required, to achieve the participants’ trust (Bergold & Thomas, 2012, p.