"Merry Christmas" is back on the lips of many retailers greeting shoppers this holiday season - much to the delight of the 32 percent of those who say they're offended when a store clerk who instead uses the generic but politically correct "Happy Holidays," a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

Last year's decision by many retailers - including retail giant Wal-Mart - to curtail the use of "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending those who don't celebrate the holiday caused a backlash from conservative Christian groups as well as consumers. Wal-Mart's change of heart this season could help bring more people into their stores - 35 percent of respondents said hearing "Merry Christmas" makes them more likely to shop there this season. For weekly Wal-Mart shoppers, that figure jumps to 54 percent. This year's poll showed opinions on holiday greetings have changed little from last year. The survey, including other fascinating American thoughts about consumer behavior during this holiday season, is featured in the December issue of Zogby's American Consumer newsletter, now available at www.zogby.com.

Zogby polling shows an overwhelming majority (95 percent) say they are not offended by being greeted with a "Merry Christmas" while shopping, including 98 percent for weekly Wal-Mart shoppers. But greet them with a "Happy Holidays," and 46 percent say they take offense. The Zogby Interactive poll surveyed 12,806 adults between Nov. 21-29 and has a margin of error of +/- 0.9 percentage points.

Of course, not everyone will be excited to hear more "Merry Christmas" greetings this season. One in three respondents who identified themselves as Jewish (32 percent) said they were upset by hearing "Merry Christmas" as were 10 percent of those of non-Christian faiths or who did not identify themselves with a religion. Democrats are more likely to take offense at "Merry Christmas" (8 percent) compared with fewer than 1 percent of Republicans and 1 percent of Independents.

While "Happy Holidays" is a greeting intended to appeal to everyone, retailers' efforts to avoid offending anyone may have backfired. More than half of those polled (51 percent) said they are bothered by store clerks who greet customers with "Happy Holidays" in an effort to help stores be politically correct. For some shoppers, a clerk who says "Happy Holidays" might as well be saying "Don't shop here"-36 percent say they have avoided shopping at a store or have cut their visit short after being greeted with a "Happy Holidays" instead of a "Merry Christmas." That figure jumps to 41 percent for weekly Wal-Mart shoppers and 42 percent for those older than 65.