Halloween Treats: What Shoppers Buy...and Why

The door bell rings, ding-dong, and your customer opens the door to find a Disney princess and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle yelling “trick-or-treat!” in perfect unison. Your customer reaches into a bowl of treats, grabs two or three, and tosses them into the kids’ treat bags.

This is a moment of truth for all retailers and brands selling Halloween treats: What, exactly, will the customer give out? But another question—one decided well before the customer’s trip to the store—might be, why did she buy the treats she did? Field Agent recently surveyed 250 adults to understand their Halloween treat preferences and motives—that is, what they buy…and why.

What is your customer handing out?

In all, 69 percent of respondents (adults over 21) said they participated in Halloween by purchasing or making treats. We then asked them what treats they pass out at Halloween (note: they were allowed to select several). Four treats received favor from more than 50% of our sample, with chocolate the overall winner:

But why?

What ultimately guides a customer’s hand away from one treat and toward another? Field Agent found a clear pecking order among shoppers’ reasons for buying Halloween treats. And there were some surprises along the way.

1. Affordability.

Far and away, affordability was the overall winner in our survey. We drilled deeper into the data to understand the relationship between the desire for affordable treats and household income. 84% of respondents with annual incomes less than $35,000 (n=38) selected affordability as an important consideration in buying treats, compared to 77% with incomes above $50,000 (n=126).

2. Packaging.

What’s on the package matters! 36% said they look for special Halloween candy packaging when shopping for treats, and 32% reported being persuaded by brand names. Also, though it wasn’t specifically an option on the survey, a couple of respondents expressed the importance of buying individually packaged treats.

3. Taste.

Nutrition (4%) came in dead last. Adults in our sample cared little about handing out healthy treats at Halloween. Yet taste (35%) came in third overall, suggesting Halloween is perceived by adult shoppers as a night for indulging.

The National Retail Federation projected Halloween-related spending of approximately $7 billion in 2013. Although this represented a one-billion-dollar decrease from Halloween 2012, spending on costumes, treats, and other items has been on a steady, decade-long climb. Mobile marketing research combines speed, precision, and affordability to give you greater control over spooky and not-so-spooky holidays.

As you prepare for Halloween 2014, consider the following possibilities with mobile marketing research:

1. Don't Get Tricked...

Early in the Halloween shopping season, look to mobile research as a convenient and affordable way to audit stores, displays, prices, and in-store promotions, and as a way to avoid costly out-of-stocks. After all, our study showed in-store convenience (33%) to be a comparatively important consideration in shopping for Halloween treats.

2. Know the "Why"

Let mobile market research do the deep work of uncovering and collecting consumer sentiments, brand perceptions, and general attitudes about Halloween merchandise—in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.

3. Go Beyond the Candy Aisle

Mobile market research gives you 24-hour, real-time access to your customers. Through photos and video, see how your products are actually being used...on Halloween night.

Are you interested in learning more about the 2014 Fall season?