Visa Europe study determines how Poles spend their free time

Visa Europe recently led a research survey to find out how Polish people spend their free time, according to www.egospodarka.pl, an economic Internet platform.
Visa Europe provides the brand, systems, services and rules that enable electronic payments between millions of European consumers, businesses and merchants.
Visa Europe is part of the global Visa network associated with 4,500 European banks and financial institutions. The company?s headquarters are in London, although it has a local office in Warsaw.
The results of the survey showed that few pleasures are as important in the modern-day life of Poles as shopping.
Shopping for particular items is considered a pleasurable activity for 69 percent of the public. More men (74 percent) than women (64 percent) enjoy this type of shopping, according to the survey?s results.
Eight of 10 people participating in the study  find shopping for sweets a pleasurable activity. Weekend-excursion shopping was considered the second most enjoyable form of shopping (67 percent), followed by perfume and cosmetics shopping (66 percent), and grabbing a bite to eat at a cafe (64 percent).
Further down the shopping list were: flowers (over 50 percent); books or newspapers (59 percent); cinema or cultural performances (55 percent); jewelry (55 percent); and, alcohol (50 percent).
Spending time with family or friends was also mentioned as a small pleasure.
Most participants said that they would like to spend their free time far from the city, resting and taking care of themselves.
However, they spend more time doing the opposite — sitting at home.
Many of the participants watch TV in their free time (29 percent), while others read books and newspapers (20 percent).
Some go to see their friends or family (21 percent) or work in the garden (19 percent).
Fourteen percent of participants admitted to spending most of their free time sleeping.
Only nine percent take excursions outside of the city, although 27 percent said that they would like to.
Four percent spend their free time on cosmetics, hairdressing, the solarium, and other activities related to beauty care.
Visa Europe?s survey was also concerned with how frequently Polish people spend their money on small pleasures.
The responses indicated that people spend time shopping only several times per month.
When they do, they most frequently purchase sweets (78 percent), books and newspapers (49 percent), alcoholic drinks (44 percent), or enjoying various types of shopping in the city center (23 percent).
Seventy-four percent of the participants leave the city once a month or never. Seventy-six percent make CD and DVD purchases. Eighty percent spend money on cinema and theater tickets. Other frequent types of purchases were: flowers (81 percent); cosmetics (81 percent); clothing (84 percent); and, jewelry and accessories (93 percent).