Halloween 2013

Pumpkin carving, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, costume parties, candy, and scary movies are in the air as Halloween approaches. Today, we are sharing with you people’s traditions, decorating intent and costume plans for the holiday. It may not surprise you that people like to dress up for Halloween, but you may find it interesting that people in the Northeast are more likely to favor trick-or-treating than those in the West. Or that people in the South are more likely to say their favorite Halloween movie is Friday the 13^th.

First, we looked at people’s Favorite Halloween tradition:

People in the US Northeast are 141% more likely than those in the West to say trick-or-treating is their favorite. Women are 169% more likely than men to say dressing up is their favorite holiday tradition. Women also like carving pumpkins and decorating more than men, however, men are more likely than women to enjoy Halloween parties. Men are also 37% more likely to say they don’t celebrate Halloween.

Who is planning to decorate their house?:

A total of 37% of people will be getting into the Halloween spirit by decorating their house or apartment for the holiday. When you pass a house that is decorated, there is a good chance it belongs to a 30-44 years old. In fact, decorators are 38% more likely than non-decorators to be 30-44 years old and they are likely to have a household income over $150K. 68% of decorators are parents or grandparents, which is 17% more likely than the non-decorators.62% of decorators are homeowners, while 20% are renters.

What’s your favorite Halloween movie?

What’s Halloween without watching scary movies? This question was a close race, but with 19% of the vote, people’s favorite Halloween / scary movie is Hocus Pocus, followed by The Shining, then Halloween. Here are a few quick facts about some movie watchers:

The Hocus Pocus watcher is 2X more likely to be a woman. They are more likely to be 25-34 years old, and have an income of $25K-$49K. People who enjoy Frankenstein are more likely to be 55+ years old, have an income of $50K-$75K, and are more likely to live in the US Midwest rather than the US West. Those who chose The Nightmare Before Christmas are more likely to be 24 years old and under, whereas people who like The Shining are 55-64 years old. People who say their favorite Halloween movie is the original Halloween are more likely to be 35-44 year old males and those who favor Nightmare On Elm Street are more likely to be under 18. Lastly, people in the US South answered Friday The 13^th more than those in the US West.

Next, we looked at who will be dressing up:

Although it’s the most popular tradition, not many people are planning to be in costume on Halloween. At least 18% of US adults will be dressing up. People are going to get creative this year and make their own Halloween costume rather than buy one. But costume stores still have some time to market to the persuadable. Below is a rundown of the persuadable shopper (or those who answered “I’m not sure”):

They are 28% more likely to be females, 115% more likely to be under 44, they are more likely to live in the West, 17% more likely to occasionally go to the movies, 23% more likely to watch Fox TV the most among other major networks, and 120% more likely to be on Twitter.

So who’s getting a pillow case full of candy?

Of the trick-or-treaters who answered “Yes,” 33% are under 18 years old, while 19% are 18-24 years old. Of the people who said “I’m not sure,” 36% are under 18 and 27% are 18-24 years old. Those who are taking their kids are 174% more likely to be 25-44 years old and 13% more likely to be a mom than a dad.