Alyssa Van Altena
Mr. Reuter
Economics
25 October, 2014
Halloween Can Pick Up Our Economy
Halloween is one of those holiday’s that you either love or hate, but no matter your opinion it has a great impact on the economy, halloween is expected to bring in $7.4 billion this year and has brought in billions each year in the past. We can assume that those who have embraced it, have spent thousands on it, just for the thrill of one night. Every year stores fill their shelves with some of the best candy, funny and scary costumes, along with every type of decoration you could possible think of.
We know that stores usually have a massive supply of anything halloween but they know that the demand is always going to be high. The last couple of years spending has been down, because of the economy, but this year will be different. As finally consumers are saying that the economy is not going to impact their spending. This year only 19% of consumers say that the economy will affect their halloween plans, compared to last years 25%, which is the least since 2009.
Costume sales are a major aspect of halloween, and make up 40% of the total sales. Everyone is getting costumes, from adults to children, even to animals. It is expected that retailers will bring in $1.4 million from adult costumes and $1 million from childrens costumes. This year 75 million adults are planning on dressing up, while 14% say they will dress up their pets, with a total of $350 million in sales of just pet costumes. Half of the people buying costumes will purchase them at stores such as Walmart and KMart. These stores thrive on providing cheap, yet popular costumes in order to satisfy their many different customers. Also one third of the people purchasing costumes will visit popular halloween stores such as Party City. Each and every retailer wanting to sell their halloween items have the goal of catching the “shoppers' eyes with fun and festive spots promoting costumes, candy and savings” (Rodriguez). Many of you will admit that you have tempted before by these retailers techniques.
Candy sales are yet another huge aspect of halloween for retailers, as 41 million trick or treaters are expected each year between the ages of 5 and 14. Not only do retailers have to sell the candy, it has to be produced by large companies such as Nestle. This is huge as they anticipate large earnings and make more and more product each year. Since there is high demand, businesses are willing to supply more of the candy, but they must still keep the equilibrium price fairly level as they know that they will lose business if they raise the price too high.
Other attractions of Halloween are haunted houses and pumpkins. Each year haunted houses bring in $400 million to $500 million in ticket sales. The owners of these haunted houses spend at total of $50 million on supplies, the money is then being put back into the economy through them. If you don’t like the scary side of halloween you are probably the pumpkin kind of person. On a goodyear pumpkins can bring in about $113 million into the economy. This can be a difference maker for many farms that thrive on these kind of sales.
Halloween parties are yet another major impact on the halloween economy, because those who throw these parties go all out from the decorations to the food and beverages. To them halloween is the best time of the year and are constantly planning and thinking of ways to make their party one of the best and beat last years. I know one of these families, and over the years they have filled their basement with endless boxes of decorations. They decorate their garage excessively, just for one night every year when they host a party. This year they are even building a temporary extension onto their garage, so it can hold more people and of course food! For them the benefits always outway the cost, making the opportunity cost of Halloween positive and anything halloween is always inelastic.
The economy is coming up and people are willing to spend the money on things such as specialty chocolates, which in return is helping the small businesses, which is talked about in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki4Na64f5nI
In the end halloween lifts our economy, by getting money into it, so even if you don’t like the holiday, it is still a huge aspect in restoring the economy. You can also take into account the fact that the average person is planning on spending $77.52 on halloween, so we can also see that more money is in consumers hands and that the economy is on its way up.
Works Cited
"Discount Halloween Costumes from SPooKY HaLLoW - Www.CostumeHunters.com."Halloween Costumes Buy Discount: Costume Hunters. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"Economic Impact of Halloween on Businesses." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Fottrell, Quentin. "How Halloween Candy Explains the Economy." MarketWatch. MarketWatch, Inc., 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"Halloween 2013 By The Numbers: A $7.6 Billion Treat." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"MetamorFit." MetamorFit. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Mont, Joe. "Halloween Tricks Bring Economic Treats." The Street. The Street, Inc., 07 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Petrecca, Laura. "Halloween to Scare up Big Bucks for Retailers." USA Today. Gannett, 19 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Rodriguez, Ashley. "Halloween Shoppers Will Buy More Costumes Than Ever in 2014." Advertising Age CMO Strategy RSS. Advertising Age, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"The Real Cost, and Value, of Halloween Is More Than $10 Billion." 247wallst.com. 24/7 Wall St., 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Halloween can increase consumer spending but it doesn't necessarily pick up the economy. The only product that really helps the US is pumpkins because those are the only final product being produced and are therefore the only thing impacting the GDP of the US. I am not sure about the candy but the money being raked in from costume sales doesn't help the economy at all because almost every costume out there has a nifty tag that says "mad in China/Japan/Vietnam...etc" that means those products are counted towards China or some other country's economic health and economy not so much the US's so while Halloween can stimulate the economy it doesn't help it grow and develope.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting but it does make since that many people are starting to buy more Halloween items given the time of year. I'm kind of surprised however that with how people are more interested in receiving items that Halloween hasn't decreases at all over the years.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think about the amount of money that is spent from October to January in preparation for the holidays during these months. Sometimes, I just don't understand how people can be willing to spend so much money on Halloween costumes, something they will most likely only wear once, unless someone should feel like dressing up as Spider-man or Darthvader on a normal day. Seriously though, those things are easily around $50 or more! Why can't we save some of this money instead to put it to better use on something more valuable and important and instead comb through Goodwill in search of a costume? I guess the benefit of having a good costume just outweighs the cost for these customers!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, this was a really well written and relevant post, as Halloween is tomorrow! It's really shocking to see how much we as Americans are spending on costumes, candy, decorations, pumpkins, etc. I can't believe that pumpkins alone can bring in $113 million into the economy - crazy! As for costumes, I always try to come up with something of my own just so I don't have to spend money on a pointless costume I am only going to wear once; so I put together a few things and call it a costume. If we take just Halloween expenses alone, we can say that the economy is doing pretty well in that department, not to mention one of the biggest holidays of the year is coming up: Christmas, and the amount spent will most probably be double or even triple that amount. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, thank you for helping me understand the economy of Halloween! I have always wondered about why candy is SO expensive the weeks before Halloween and then it all goes on sale on November 1st! I’m curious as to what people spend that “77.52” on.... costumes and candy? Personally for me, I try to make my costumes out of the clothes I already have and so hopefully that will cut down on the opportunity costs of Halloween fun! It’s incredible to think how much our economy is influenced just by our tradition and culture.
ReplyDeleteColin Marks
ReplyDeleteI never doubted that Halloween had an impact on the economy, I just never knew how much it helped. I knew that basically everybody participated, but I ha no clue the severity of what was spent on Halloween. But now that I think about it, it makes sense, many advertisements are geared towards Halloween. There is one more thing that you forgot to account for however, and that is scary movies. It seems that every year at least one or two scary movies coming out.
It is crazy to think about how much money is spent on candy during one Halloween as people all across the country must stock up for trick or treaters. Then to think abut all the costumes people buy for one night. It bring so much money into stores. They must keep there supply high to keep up with other stores because if they run out, the other stores will take there customers. This is because the demand is so high for the extravagant night. All these goods are inelastic since they are wants and not needs. People do not have to buy these things, rather they choose to do so. Halloween is a true money maker for today's economy.
ReplyDeleteThe candy sales and costume sales are a big contributor to the festive atmospher of Halloween. Demand for these goods are extremely high, therefore, companies can offer virtually any price. This could potentially bring a problem. Will companies start to charge unreasonable prices for these goods? And if this occurs, will the governemnt have to intervene and put a price ceiling?
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a weird holiday, It makes people dress up inordinately to everyday society, and having the candy factor doesn't help. IT becomes a scary night with people doing sketchy things like slashing tires. And the after math of Halloween is terrible. People getting fat on candy. I think that America should go away from Halloween
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a very exciting time for kids and adults with all of the candy that becomes available in one night. Stores know that this time of the year in the biggest time of the year when they sell out of candy. So they make sure that they keep the supply of the the candy high and make sure that they keep the shelves stocked ready for the spenders. With the spenders spending millions and millions of dollars on candy it gives the stores a chance to make some big bucks.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird to think that a one day holiday can have such an effect on the economy, with holidays such as Halloween and Christmas. Just one day of the 365 can have such increased spending and money circulating back into the economy is pretty swanky. To maintain the health of the economy there will always be those fanatics who go overboard on decorations and purchasing, though they may be depleting your sanity, they are aiding their fellow neighbors financially.
ReplyDeleteI agree, its surprising to see how much holidays effect our economy. For the most part, people don't think of the significant impact holidays have. If you think about it, flash sales that prompt people to buy Halloween candy greatly stimulates our economy. Overall, I just gotta say, great writing. You used strong vocabulary and your analysis was in depth. The topic was clear and current. Great job.
DeleteHalloween is the one time of year when children can express what they enjoy, such as who their favorite characters are, and I do believe that it leads to a better economy, because parents are willing to give their children the costume of their dreams during that such year. Yes, cost of costumes, candy, and decorations tend to be a hefty cost, but it's a holiday that is always enjoyable for all ages. Not only does it benefit children from getting candy, and adults getting together with their friends, but it also benefits to the stores that are supplying the items, because they are also making a profit from the items being sold. So whoever you are, whether it's sitting at home watching holiday movies, or the five year old trick-or-treating, it's always a holiday that will benefit the economy.
ReplyDeleteI love Halloween it's my favorite time of the year. But i didn't think that we spent so much on candy or costumes. The economy must be doing well if we are spending so much on the costumes we want. I liked how you added all the aspects of Halloween not just one part. You did very well and i liked it very much.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to think on how much just one holiday can help the economy grow. As stated in the article Halloween is expected to bring in 7.4 billion dollars this year. That is a huge number because of the high supply and demand. People are wanting to buy candy, costumes, pumpkins and even buying tickets for haunted houses. To see how much an economy can grow off of just one holiday is amazing to see.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a very cheap holiday. Its either celebrate Halloween or you don't. Candy is really cheap and costumes aren't that expensive. But Halloween is a great holiday for businesses to make some money and to help out the economy.
ReplyDeleteI know the effect that you wrote about is very true- people will spend excessive amounts of money on a good costume, pumpkins and decorations. I know that a lot of the time, people will purchase a more expensive costume than they might wish to spend, but then they rationalize the spending by saying that they will just wear the costume again next year. Of course, next year rolls around and it would be unthinkable for someone to wear the same costume they spent thirty dollars on the previous year. Similarly, decorations are also something that people have a hard time saying no to. It seems like in many neighborhoods, the residents actually take it upon themselves to “compete” with their neighbors for the better decorations thus causing them to spend more because the marginal benefit of winning the “contest” would outweigh the cost of the extra decorations. I know a lot of people like to purchase decorations for the upcoming year a few days after Halloween when everything goes on sale, so I wonder how much that spending might add to the total cost of Halloween.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa this is a very well written blog post and definitely very interesting as well. Although I am not part of the millions of people that go all out every year on this festive night in the year, I have to admit I do love all the things that come with Halloween. I have spent probably over $10 on halloween candy, $20 on a single haunted house, and $40 on my costume. I think that Halloween serves as a perfect excuse to get people out of their houses and spend some of the money they have in their pockets to better the economy of the nation. I hope that the producers and business owners do meet their profits and hope that their investments are paid off. Not going to lie, I am looking forward to cheaper candy next week.
ReplyDeleteI never would've guessed Halloween would have such a big effect on the economy. I wouldn't have guessed that Halloween is going to bring in 7.4 billion dollars this year. That's a lot of money for celebrating a holiday for one day! I agree with this post though, because the statistics show and add up that Halloween truly enhances the economy and will bring in a large amount of revenue to those who sell the goods and services, such as Walmart and haunted houses.
ReplyDeleteOverall I really agree with the fact that Halloween especially brings in billions of dollar for the economy, Halloween is probably one of the most expensive holidays, aside from Christmas, based upon the revenue and the demand for products. However where there becomes a problem is that Halloween, along with any other holiday, only lasts one day out of the entire year. So, yes billions of dollars is coming in through costumes, candy, special decorations and so forth, however because that money is only brought in one time every year I do not think it can impact the economy essentially for a very long period. Also, while demand and supply are met at an equilibrium because demand is just as high as the supply, quickly after the holiday the supply will still be high while demand is decreasing, which also effects the economy more negatively than positively. Although I do agree completely that holidays, especially Halloween, effect the economy drastically by the billions of dollars brought in, I do not see how impacting holidays can be because they only occur once every year. .
ReplyDeleteYour post really shows the positive side to Halloween and shows that although some people may not life it, it really helps our country’s economy because of the huge amount of money it brings in. As you said sales for things like costumes and candy go up meaning that retailers profits increase because of the high demand and the fact that supply is high but I have to wonder what happens when Halloween is over? Sure places like Walmart and Kmart can continue making a profit year round because they sell a huge variety of things but what about places like Party City? People generally don’t buy costumes unless it’s for Halloween so their sales must drop a lot after October meaning they have to make sure their prices are the best for Halloween or they’ll lose even more money. Overall I think Halloween is great because of all the benefits to the economy but it makes me wonder how places like Party City can stay open when Halloween is only 1 day a year.
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ReplyDeleteI always knew that Halloween brought in large amounts of money from candy but never really thought it would bring in a billion dollars. Haunted Houses bring in half a billion of dollars by themselves. However, I was surprised when I saw how much costumes make. I would think that they make more than that. Overall Halloween is a fantastic holiday for the economy and helps out several businesses.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Halloween to be such a money guzzler. There are a lot of things that go into Halloween, the costumes, food/candy, and decoration. However, I know a lot of people now-a-days that make their own costumes. DIY's have become such a trend, that many costume shops now have to compete with. Soon enough, Halloween may not have such a big impact on the economy as it does today, or as it has in the past.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic choice because I think that everyone knows that candy, costumes, and decorations fly off the shelves around Halloween, however I don’t think they know just how great an impact it has on the economy. $7.4 Billion is a huge chunk of cash and obviously is a benefit to our economy. I like how you used the economic terms such as equilibrium price for candy and costumes as well as inelastic goods for haunted houses. This really helped me understand the economic effects of Halloween, nice job!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, great topic for your post since Halloween is tomorrow already! It was interesting that you mentioned how candy companies cannot raise their prices too fast since that could drive buyers away and potentially ruin their sales. I would have thought that candy companies could raise their prices as much as they wanted since during the Halloween season candy is basically a necessity and people are willing to pay whatever it takes, as you said stating that the economy will not impact most Americans' Halloween spendings this year.
ReplyDeletethe supply curve would likely be inelastic, as candy is pretty specific, and plants that produce candy cannot easily switch. This means an increase in demand wouldn't change the quantity sold much, however with this large increase in quantity demanded, there must have been a large increase in consumer income
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Halloween would play such an important role for certain farmers in terms of percentage of sales, but then again people don't really want to buy pumpkins during the year other than Halloween. Also, I would expect things such as Haunted Houses and pumpkins to be more of a elastic item given the amount of substitute goods.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think that Halloween could have such a large effect on the economy. I never really considered pumpkins, despite their obvious impact, as a huge part of the Halloween "economy" and it was interesting to hear them mentioned. Overall a very good, and timely, piece,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see pumpkins and haunted houses as part of the economy, but they really are such a big part of what we spend money on at this time of year. I never related these things to the farmers who grow pumpkins and such and the percentage of sales they earn. Overall this was a very nice piece and I enjoyed reading something pertaining to this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI think that Halloween provides a great opportunity for the economy to get the motivation to increase as it needs to. As the start of the holiday season, it helps give business to local farmers, as well as a lot of business to everyday stores selling candy. I think that it is great that Halloween has such an impact on the economy. Great piece, and very relative to this time of year.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting piece to read. I don't think normal, everyday people think about the impact Halloween has on the economy. This fun and scary holiday provides a boost in the economy for a specific time period. I liked how you included the specific statistics, (19% and 25%) It showed how this really effects people of the United States. During the holiday time periods, demand goes up! Producers need to be able to supply enough so a shortage does not occur. Halloween creates a lot of total revenue for specific companies and businesses. Halloween is a fun and unique opportunity for the economy to get better. Nice piece and it was fun to read!
ReplyDeleteThis is very good! I'm from Hoover and I'm in my finance class and we are reading your blog. this is very good and detailed! I love how you use so much detail! It really inspired me to write like you. In addition this also made me understand the impact Halloween has from a deeper standpoint! Well done!
ReplyDeleteI'm from Hoover Finance Academy, and our teacher asked us to read your blog, and so I never knew any of this, it was quite surprising to know how much money you could earn by selling candy.
ReplyDeleteIt's overwhelming how much money we actually sped on Halloween. I wouldn't think Halloween would have this much affect on the economy. This really shows me how much time and effort we actually put into a Holiday half of the people only participate in for the candy. This really shows me how much money we spend on the fun things of life.
ReplyDeleteHey my names Trey and i'm from Hoover High School and I am in the finance academy. I think its crazy that Haunted houses get and 90% profit!
ReplyDeleteHey! I am currently a freshman in high school and I am taking a finance course this year. This is a great blog! Very informative and I completely agree with you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this blog that Halloween brings alot of money to our economic system for thins like candy,haunted houses, costumes, and decorations. I think Halloween is a great time of the year to have fun and get candy especially with the younger kids.
ReplyDeleteIt makes complete sense that Halloween would bring our economy up a bit, but this really goes with any holiday. People spend a lot on the holidays whether it be for food/candy or decorations or even presents for others. So yes, Halloween does help our economy. So do many other holidays as well, though, possibly even more so than halloween.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a holiday that bring money into our economy. Just this year alone the United States will spend 2.4 billion on candy and $2.8 billion on costumes. Halloween does have an impact on stores that sell Halloween merchandise because it brings in so much money to the store. It’s weird to think that we spend so much money on Halloween and we don’t even realize how much we’re actually spending. Halloween defiantly brings in money to our economy weather, like you said, we like the holiday or we don’t it will always bring money into the economy.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting piece to read because I hate all things Halloween related, but knowing it helps the economy makes me feel a little better about it. Clearly trick or treat brings in a ton of revenue because a majority of people hand out candy to the little kids, who although do not have to spend on candy, have to spend on costumes, and their parents are probably also handing out candy. Halloween's only real purpose is to help the economy, and allow businesses to make a lot of money during that month, like other holidays like Valentine's day, that has no real purpose besides a way for businesses to make money. Overall this was a really good piece on describing the positives to Halloween but it would've been good to know the negative externalities of this as well, because there are a lot of those as well, and it'd be interesting to see how much the positives outweigh the negatives, or if they really do.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see Halloween being one of the more profitable holidays for businesses. But there are many others that help as well. Imagine how much more money grocery stores make around Thanksgiving or all stores retail during Christmas.Card companies like hallmark during Valentine's day specifically. You can't just talk about Halloween, but holidays in general
ReplyDeleteThis is an integrating topic and you brought up a number of good points, but I am curious in how the new plans for some areas during Halloween are affecting the economic benefit of Halloween. The best example would be hunted houses, you did mention how profitable hunted houses are but I also know that show of them had taken a hit over the years. Whether for being too scary, a deterrence, or just inappropriate a handful of people have been trying to get rid of these haunted attractions.When they are successful then that is a big loss to the Halloween economy.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, even though Halloween is my favorite holiday, I had never really considered the economics of it. Aside from cringing at the price of pumpkins and costumes, I did not realize how much money Halloween makes for people. Clearly the demand is quite high, as is the supply, but I wonder how much profit Halloween companies and farmers actually make? Considering that this holiday comes only once a year and pumpkin farmers are entirely reliant on it, do they really make that much money? If a flood or other natural disaster were to occur, many of these farms would lose everything. Perhaps by increasing their diversity, they can increase profit.
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