Scaring Up Halloween Business

Oct 27, 2003

NEW YORK -- With Halloween upon us (Oct. 31), children once again will hear from parents, guardians, teachers and dentists that eating too much sugar can cause tooth decay and cavities.

However, these same people don't always practice what they preach, as 79% of adults are planning to indulge their sweet tooth this Halloween but 64% are not doing anything to keep their teeth "orally fit," according to a new survey from Oral-B, a division of The Gillette Co.

How much candy will adults be eating on Halloween? Some 30% of those surveyed said they plan to eat 10 pieces of candy or more. Not only that, 44% plan to purchase their own Halloween candy rather than helping themselves to their kid's stash or eating from the supply they purchased for trick-or-treaters

The "Oral-B Halloween Survey" was conducted by ICR/International Communications Research, Media, Pa., among a random nationwide sample of 1,005 adults for Gillette's oral care division.

Separately, a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation (NRF), Washington, D.C., found that 56% of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween, spending an average of $41.77 on the holiday. That will be only slightly unchanged from 2002, when consumers spent an average of $44.20.

Halloween continues to be the second-biggest holiday for decorating next to the winter holidays. Nearly half of consumers (46.6%) celebrating Halloween will decorate their homes or yards with a Halloween theme this year, and plan to spend $10.37 each on Halloween decorations. Consumers will also spend an average of $14.85 on costumes, $14.41 on candy, and $2.14 on greeting cards, according to the "NRF 2003 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey," conducted by BIGresearch.

Though Halloween will be celebrated by adults of all ages, consumers will celebrate the holiday quite differently. Young adults aged 18-24 plan to celebrate Halloween by dressing in costume (57.3%) and throwing or attending a party (48.6%). More than half of consumers aged 25-44 will take children trick-or-treating (52.8%) and carve a pumpkin (54.3%) this Halloween. Consumers over the age of 45 will spend their Halloween night at home and hand out candy (86.9%).

A variety of retailers will benefit from sales of Halloween merchandise. Discounters will continue to see the majority of traffic, with 69.2 percent of consumers planning to shop for Halloween merchandise at a discount store. Consumers will also be heading to grocery stores (45.5%), specialty stores like Halloween or party stores (23.4%), department stores (19.1%), and drug stores (16.9%), per the survey.

"Halloween continues to be important for retailers because it represents the beginning of a new season, not just one holiday," Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO, said in a statement. "With a variety of costumes in the stores, community activities across the country, and decorations on front porches, it's no surprise that consumers, and retailers, love Halloween."

-- Staff Report