Empire Theatre coupons offered with gift cards include a 2-for-1 admission coupon. (CBC)

Canadians are more likely to buy gift cards for Christmas than anything else this year, according to a Scotiabank study.

The financial institution's Annual Holiday Spending Study shows 53 per cent of Canadians intend to buy gift cards for Christmas this year. The next most likely gift is clothing, at 47 per cent. Gift cards also topped the list of desired gifts, at 44 per cent.

Just two years ago, only 17 per cent of Canadians intended to buy gift cards.

The increase in the popularity of gift cards could be partly explained by aggressive new tactics by retailers, in particular, offering bonuses to the buyer.

"If you purchase $30 in gift cards, then you will receive $30 in coupons," Charlene Hicks, general manager of Empire Theatres in Charlottetown, told CBC News on Wednesday.

It sounds like a good deal, but the special offers are often carefully designed to generate more business. For example, among the Empire Theatres coupons is a 2-for-1 admission offer.

Gift cards are not just for large corporations, either. Charlottetown's Murphy Group of restaurants is also getting in on the act, offering a $10 coupon with the purchase of a $25 gift card. The catch is the coupon has to be used in January.

"It's great for the month of January, especially for us when it's your slowest month of the year, to have people come back and redeem the cards at that time," said owner Kevin Murphy.

"It's all about how do you get people to respond to some of your marketing…. You try to do your best to stay competitive and get people to patronize your operation."

While the $10 coupon looks good to the customer, it is likely, said Murphy, that anyone coming into one of his restaurants with one is going to spend more than that.