By now summer’s a distant memory. Those lazy days at the beach have been replaced by long afternoons sitting on the sofa watching the nights draw in as you wonder when it’s fiscally acceptable to start putting the central heating on.
Still, October’s arrival isn’t all doom and gloom: Halloween’s nearly here!
But is All Hallows’ Eve just a nice excuse to get dressed up, gorge on sweets and watch the Hellraiser films (all 11 of them) back to back, or a queasy blend of pagan ritual and sugary, modern-day greed?
Using CintSnap – a way to survey individuals and understand opinions quickly – we conducted a poll with approximately 300 people in the UK and the US to assess Halloween spending habits and see if Halloween really is a holiday worth celebrating.
A night to remember?
Before delving into how much people are prepared to spend on the holiday, and what exactly it is they’ll be buying, we wanted to understand whether or not people actually do take Halloween as seriously as, say, Thanksgiving or Valentine’s Day.
While it might seem as American as apple pie, the 4th of July, and tailgating at a Grateful Dead concert, Halloween seems to have caught on big time on the other side of the pond.
Two thirds of respondents based in the UK strongly or somewhat agreed with the idea that Halloween is something worth celebrating. This figure jumps to a whopping 87% over in the US.
Asked if they’ll be actively partaking in Halloween 2024, 81% of survey-takers in the US are likely or very likely to do so. Back in the UK, the numbers drop slightly with 65% of those polled indicating that they’ll be in a maleficent mood come October 31.
Movie marathon or an eerie evening out?
Asked what they’ll actually be doing on the most spooktacular night of the year, both sets of respondents made it abundantly clear that trick or treating rules the rotten roost. Just over a quarter of Americans (26%) and just under a fifth of Brits (19%) will either be out collecting candy from their neighbors or waiting for a group of mummified kids wrapped in loo roll to come a-knocking.
Parties — both hosting and attending — proved popular too. In the UK, 16% of our sample said they’d be the ones hosting, with 10% planning to make their way to some form of scary shindig.
Across the Atlantic, the roles are reversed, with 14% of those surveyed hoping to be guests at an event, and 10% playing the role of host.
When it comes to a more media-focused approach to Halloween, the movie industry has the edge. Sadly for the likes of Stephen King, only 1% of both our US and UK respondents plan on passing the time with a blood-curdling book under the covers. This contrasts with the 26% of Americans and 16% of UK residents who make a habit of tucking into a horror movie or two on Halloween.
Halloween shopping trends
While Brits seem to get a kick out of Halloween these days, they are still considerably less likely to put their hands in their pockets than their US counterparts. Around a quarter (28%) of UK respondents asserted that they don’t spend any money at all on Halloween-related purchases, a total that falls to 11% in the US.
That being said, 26% of our UK survey respondents will be spending between £10-25 on the holiday and around a fifth (21%) are going even higher, having budgeted £25-50. A thrifty 14% will be spending £10 or less. On the other end of the spectrum, nearly one in 10 (11%) will be paying out more than £50 on Halloween.
Most of our American respondents (30%) will be hovering between the $25-50 mark, with just over a quarter (26%) going all out and spending over $50. 10% aim to keep spending under $10.
What is everyone actually buying, though? The runaway transatlantic winner was, perhaps somewhat obviously, candy. Sweets and confectionery accounts for 35% and 56% of British and American spending respectively.
Costumes also proved popular with both sets of respondents, as did decorations.
Who tricks, who treats?
It wouldn’t be a survey about Halloween without delving into one final, very important question: What are you offering trick-or-treaters when they knock on your door?
Thankfully for kids everywhere, both sets of respondents unanimously reported that they’ll be nice this year. 61% of US and 54% of UK survey-takers said they’ll err on the side of treats.
A small subsection of respondents (7% in the US against 4% in the UK) veer the opposite way and tend to opt for the trick option. Just over a fifth of Americans (21%) mix things up, as do 15% of people in the UK.
Interestingly, there’s a relatively notable difference between the UK and the US when it comes to the percentage of those polled who quite simply refuse to open up when their street’s running wild with costume-clad kids. About a quarter (27%) of UK respondents don’t plan on offering anything to trick-or-treaters, contrasting with 16% in the US.
While UK residents might not spend quite as much as their US cousins, there’s still clearly an appetite for the holiday.
Will you be festooning your house in skeletons and doling out sweets to everyone in the neighborhood? Or do you shut the curtains, bolt the doors and avoid Halloween like the plague?
Join the conversation on our LinkedIn page.
Methodology
A ‘CintSnap’ is a snapshot into the minds of general consumers. The data featured was pulled using the Cint platform and leverages Cint’s programmatic research tech. A census demographic of approximately 300 consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States was surveyed for each question within a 3 hour window on the 1st October, 2024.
Cint’s research technology helps our customers to post questions and get answers from real people, in real time – and to use these insights to build business strategies, publish research, and accurately measure the impact of advertising efforts. Find out more here.
