Morgan Wallenfang
Mrs. Straub
Economics
November 3, 2014
Halloween and its Positive Impact on Our Economy
Halloween is a holiday you wished happened more than once a year or wished it never would happen at all. It’s a night when little kids, adults and even pets can get dressed up for one night out of the year and get loads of candy. Stores say Halloween is one of the best holidays from the massive demand for candy, costumes and decorations. Experts estimate that this year alone the GDP consumption of consumers will spend about $7 million on Halloween merchandise. Though the economy is low right now, it’s not going to stop consumers from buying Halloween merchandise, and the more consumers buy the more money it will bring into the economy.
Candy shops alone say Halloween is one of the best months, because it brings in 8% of their annual sales from selling enormous amounts of candy. Although, the economy took a hit in 2011 of $1.81 billion, this year it’s estimated that people in the United States will spend even more with spending an average of $72 dollars totaling up to $2.7 billion being spent on candy. With the huge demand for candy always around Halloween, stores have to supply enough candy and still be able to stick to the equilibrium price. So, stores selling candy can still make a profit and the companies producing the candy will still be able to make a profit.
Candy isn’t the only thing that makes Halloween; costumes are also a big part of Halloween. In total, costumes will add up to be $2.5 billion this year alone. Plus, this year Halloween falls on a Friday, in result an expected increase in GDP consumption for adults. Halloween falling onto Friday means more adults will attend parties and want to dress up. “In fact, consumers this year are spending $1.4 billion on adult costumes compared to $1.1 billion for children's costumes” (Peterson). Also, there is an estimate $350 million to be spent on pet costumes this year alone (Peterson). Halloween costumes will help the market with a total of $2.8 billion dollars this year.
Outrageous costumes and delicious sweets aren’t the only parts of Halloween that will be bringing in money; haunted houses also bring in huge amounts of money each year. There are around 4,000 haunted houses in the world and each can cost around $13 to $30 per ticket “Hauntworld Magazine estimates they make up a $2 billion industry” (Guillot). Haunted house still bring in big bucks because people enjoy getting scared. For example, I enjoy going to haunted houses and getting scared out of my pants because, each year technology is advancing and each year haunted houses GDP invest in the new technology and doing so, haunted houses are able to bring in large crowds each year.
To think Halloween will bring in about $7 billion this year to the economy, and that’ll we will spend an average of $72 this year on Halloween is crazy. Halloween definitely picks up our economy by being able to bring money into small businesses and the economy as a whole.
Works Cited
Guillot, Craig. “Petrified Profits: A Haunted House Operator Tells His Tale”. Upstart. American City Business Journals. 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Fried, Carla. “The Real Cost of Humiliating Pets on Halloween”. Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Peterson, Kim. “American’s opening their wallets for Halloween”. CBSNews.com. CBS Interactive Inc. 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Petrecca, Laura. "Halloween to Scare up Big Bucks for Retailers." USA Today. Gannett, 19 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
This was very interesting. I didn't realize how much of an impact Halloween has on the economy. That 8% of the income for candy shops and companies is on Halloween is crazy. Halloween is a great asset to the economy.
ReplyDeleteI never would have guessed that Halloween brings in so much money? I mean, I knew that everyone buys candy and costumes and they aren't cheap. But I would have never guessed that much money was spent each year. I normally just go to the dollar store to get the candy and pass it out. This large amount of money can really help our economy. Imagine what Christmas would bring in!? That's when everyone gets those very expensive new toys that they will only use for the first few weeks. That has to be more than Halloween, wouldn't you think?
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think just how much we need Halloween. Walking into Walmart or Target you can see that in the second to third week in September they are already putting the decorations, costumes and candy for Halloween. They money that they make is even more incredible because so many people eat candy that they will buy it and eat it buy themselves before trick-or-treating even starts requiring them to buy more candy. $72 dollars it a ton of money to spend. For a minor that is almost 10 hours of work going back into that. And then think about that one house in your neighborhood who goes all out in tricking out their house with decorations. Who knew the spookiest holiday would have one of the biggest impacts in our nations economy.
ReplyDeleteMorgan I enjoyed your topic and never expected that Halloween would account for that much revenue for businesses across the country. While I did expect the candy sales to be outrageous they far succeeded what I was even expecting. The one part I never really took in account for was the costumes that are sold each year. My only question is about which holiday stores prefer Halloween or Christmas
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting topic because it makes you think about how much money just one holiday can bring to our country. To think that 7 billion dollars will be brought into our economy is crazy. This just proves how much one thing can have such a large impact. Not just for the candy but for the costumes, the candy, and the decorations. I can only imagine that if this holiday brought in 7 billion dollars just how much Christmas will bring in.
ReplyDeleteIt never took a step back to realize how much money is spent on candy and halloween. When I had to throw candy in the homecoming parade I was extremely taken back at the prices I was seeing on the shelf as a decent sized bag of candy was gonna cost me well over 15 dollars. When you take into account all of the costumes as well as haunted houses and decorations, I guess it doesnt come as much of a surprise that halloweemn contributes so positively to our economy as a whole.
ReplyDeleteTo think that Halloween impacts our economy is such a fashion just blows my mind. To see that 2.7 billion will be spent on candy is crazy. And that the average american is going to spend 72 dollars on Halloween. The next big factor to Halloween ins costumes. Who would have guessed that Holloween costumes would bring in 2.5 billion to our economy. And that haunted houses bring in 2 billion. It is crazy to know how much of an impact Halloween really is.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Halloween is a booming industry at the moment, this is likely to cause problems for us in the future. The problem with Halloween is that for things like costumes there are only a handful of places that you are able to get costumes. Its not quite at this point yet, but it definitely seems like the industry is beginning to move towards being monopolistically competitive. and because of the relative inelasticity of a good Halloween costume, it is possible for the prices of the products to continue to rise.
ReplyDelete