Haunted Houses
By: Skyler Bohn
As the leaves begin to fall and the weather starts to drop, each store fills their aisles with Halloween decor: October is here! Although everyone complains about summer coming to an end, shortly after adjustment, our society displays their undying passion for the fall season. Between apple picking, sweaters, and the pumpkin spice latte, the overall hype relies on “fall activities”. One fall activity that most can’t help but feel intrigued by are haunted houses. By living in a scarce society, we are short on supply and must demand more for our personal wants and benefits. When something becomes more scarce, it’s more valuable and this is why haunted houses are so popular. Haunted houses are only open during October so this allows an increase in demand when surrounded by fall advertising, as people realize the supply, haunted houses, is limited.
When there is an increase in price of haunted houses, the quantity of demand also will increase by haunted houses charging more for admission. Haunted houses do this because they are aware of the consumer surplus--people are willing to pay more. The average price to get into a haunted house is $20.00 (American Haunts). One haunted house in New Orleans explains how they expect around 25,000 visitors every year, charging $25.00--above average-- per person. With only being open 16 days, they collect a profit of about $625,000 (Petrified Profits). Some may argue that this is a waste of money and is elastic, but to those who thrive for haunted houses would strongly disagree, believing that they are inelastic. Those who are willing to pay for haunted houses don’t care about the price. Their demand will continue to increase based on consumer tastes and consumer expectations.
The holiday Halloween is what makes these activities a must. Below I found some statistics on Halloween. Every year about 157 million Americans celebrate this holiday out of 245 million Americans questions. This is a little over half of Americans taking the time to participate in Halloween. The most popular activities that the people who celebrated Halloween was stated in order. Within these festivities was haunted houses. This displays that people involved in Halloween consider attending a haunted house.
If people intend to visit a haunted house, it isn’t difficult to find one. There are about 2,500 haunted houses worldwide, mostly in America, tempting people all over to attend these outrageously overpriced, but thrilling houses (NBC News). According to National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween survey, Americans plan to spend nearly $7 billion on Halloween this fall. And about 20 percent of the 158 million consumers who plan to celebrate Halloween say they will visit haunted attractions this year. Even though people complain about how high prices are while talking about haunted houses, people will still continue to go to them and feel obligated to pay most prices because of the limited supply.
Overall, haunted houses are a fall activity that some spend all year craving. It is when Halloween comes closer that people become antsy for this festivity and will do anything to attend. Although the prices can seem over priced, some won’t let that affect their decision as they know it could be a while until haunted houses once again are opened. Haunted houses will continue to increase in popularity as millions will continue to participate in this thrilling interest.
Work Cited
HAUNTEDHOUSE.COM, By HAUNTWORLD And. "Reviews & Accolades." America Haunts Representing the Best Halloween Attractions in America Facts Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
Https://www.facebook.com/CNBC. "It's Alive! Halloween Industry Scares up Big Money." CNBC. CNBC, 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
"Petrified Profits: A Haunted House Operator Tells His Tale." Upstart Business Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
@PsychToday. "The Lure of Haunted Houses." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
I think overall Halloween is becoming more popular and thus increases demand for haunted houses or fillers for it. There are corn mazes and i'm sure other things to try and get people in holiday spirit. The money statistics you have are pretty incredible as I would have never guessed billions of dollars spent on Halloween. You showed the facts very well and made this a very interesting piece.
ReplyDeleteoverall this piece is powerful because not a lot of people know about how much money are spent on Halloween, and I also never thought it would be that much. This piece of writing is really in detail and powerful since it's almost Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI agree that haunted houses are becoming more and more popular, and I believe this is in direct result of the demographics/trends that society has established in this fall month of October. Around this particular area there is only a few haunted houses that are within a 15 minute drive, most cases you have to drive at least 30 minutes. So not only are you paying for the haunted house which is at least $20, you are also paying for the gas that it takes to get there which can be seen as an opportunity cost, that money could have been saved or spent elsewhere. Suppliers will not lower the prices of the haunted houses because they know that buyers are willing to pay more for the entertainment. However, it would be interesting to see how many more people would be willing to go to haunted houses if the price was lowered, and how that would affect the overall income the supplier makes. As they get more popular, I believe that the cost of admission will increase even more because people will want to go regardless, so that they can participate in this popular trend. We can not prohibit this from happening, because us as consumers will not dispel what is liked by the bulk of society.
ReplyDeleteI am very surprised how much money a haunted house can generate, $625,000 is a lot of money for 16 days worth of a haunted house. It probably isn’t completely profit because you need to pay the workers and pay for the decorations, but all in all, haunted houses do make a lot of money. I don’t think paying $25 to go through a haunted house for an hour is totally worth it, but I guess a lot of other people think that it is.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a holiday that many people actually fail to recognize. It is right up there next to Thanksgiving and Easter when it comes to how large of a holiday is actually is. Children are constantly waiting for this time of year to come around so that they can get the extra candy and go get scared by these haunted houses. What you said in your post about how much many is spend made sense, especially because we in America go all out with costumes, candy, and haunted houses. In all a really good post that explains exactly how big of a deal haunted houses really are.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is widely popular throughout the U.S, and many people sure like to go to haunted houses because of it. I think, mostly, it's because of this positive impact on people that allows the haunted houses to get so much profit. Also, because Halloween is only once a year, it excites people and causes them to pay for these haunted houses that may be more expensive than anything else on the market. I do think the Halloween stats help with your point in the blog post, and I find it interesting how this holiday has impacted people. This includes the many costumes, parties, accessories, and including the haunted houses that all make this a good way to make money. It's interesting how far fun can go--if the price increases for administration, people are still willing to pay to get this type of experience.
ReplyDeleteAlthough people do like haunted houses each year and might be getting more people to celebrate more parts of Halloween. There is no way that people spend more than 7 billion dollars on fall items this year. Also although there are many haunted houses out there what happens to the amount of people wanted to attend a specific haunted house knowing that it'll close this year.
ReplyDeleteYou presented the information very well and on such a unique topic! I found it so interesting about how much money is made by haunted houses. Personally, I don’t care for being scared or usually participating in them. But I had no clue about how much money is incorporated with haunted houses. I found it also interesting how you connected the Demand Determinants because they play such a big deal in the Halloween spirit. Many people would not usually go for haunted houses in say May, but once October rolls around, they pop up everywhere. I also would find it interesting to know how much money is made by haunted houses for charities. I know many places put up haunted houses to raise money for certain foundations and awareness and they attract hundreds of people. You presented the information very well and on such a unique topic!
ReplyDeleteHalloween is starting to become more than a Hallmark holiday and is generating a huge national buzz. Although Halloween has been around for decades, no generation has taken Halloween more serious than the current one. It helps us find a sense childhood and is an activity we are willing to spend big bucks on. The economic output will change vastly in a matter of 2 weeks while everyone gets into the festivities. You hit the nail on the head when you stated that the supply and demand is outrageous during that time of year. A principle that most follow include being activity around the holidays. During every holiday nowadays, it seems that people are more motivated and doing activities. Notwithstanding this evidence, proves that Halloween is a big deal. Halloween will always bring out the devil inside of us for a short period of time, regardless, we will always be willing to spend our hard earned cash on making the most of our Halloween experience.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is becoming a more popular holiday due to the society we live in. The principle is that people like being scared now more than ever, which is why haunted houses are very popular. I found it interesting how much a haunted house can make from being open for just sixteen days. I believe that the advertising surrounding Halloween helps increase the popularity of the holiday.
ReplyDeleteWe look forward to haunted houses in the fall, the same we we look forward to Christmas tree shopping in the winter and sno-cones in the summer. Having specific services and goods sold just within a specific, short time period creates an excitement, a countdown of sorts to that activity/good which is why it is such an effective business strategy. And when this time finally comes, like you said, people are willing to spend way more than they would if we had haunted houses open year-round.
ReplyDeleteI think that, even though it is only here for a limited time, the haunted house is more elastic than inelastic. This is mainly because lots of other attractions come up around the same time that are also part time. Corn mazes and activities like apple picking and pumpkin carving are all competitors to haunted houses. A severe increase in the price of a haunted house ticket would deter people and cause the competitors demand to increase.
ReplyDeleteI have gone to multiple haunted houses every year, and the cheapest ones seem to be farther away. These houses often have different sub-sections or different experiences to pay for. I agree for some people they just won't not go one year. The lesser price of the experiences is still quite costly for the outcome or quality of the house. It is known to me that the price is about $15 minimally but locally it is $35.
ReplyDeleteIt hurts me to say, I've already spent $64 on haunted houses this year. Though the high prices of the houses hurt my bank account, I am stilling willing to buy admission to them because of the scarcity of them. Similar to haunted houses during October, consumer tastes continue to change throughout the year. Which is why we go to see light shows during December and go to water parks in the summer. The demand curve of haunted houses shifts right during Halloween because of consumer tastes and Halloween advertising. Though, I love haunted house are one of my favorite things, I would never consider them inelastic. They are not a necessity, cost a lot, and there are many substitutes, like pumpkin picking and going to a scary movie. Overall, I think that haunted houses boost the economy, providing seasonal jobs, and income to suppliers.
ReplyDeleteYour statistics are very interesting about haunted houses and the revenue they generate. As you mentioned Haunted houses I think are very inelastic. Halloween is a short period of time each year that's full of exciting things. There isn't another time of the year where you get to experience a haunted house therefore people will pay quite a bit of money for this. Sellers realize this and are uping the price of their attraction. I wouldn't be surprised if the price increased even more since the actual holiday of Halloween is coming up. I also think Halloween is generally becoming one of the most enjoyable holidays for Americans. It generates national buzz and hundreds of millions Americans are involved. You said americans will spend around 7 billion on Halloween this year and not only will haunted houses be rolling in the bank, but costume stores at this point in time have lots of demand, and even grocery stores with candy have increased demand during this short time. Because the short period of time Halloween is most goods are inelastic and sellers end up profiting huge from this!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think of the popularity of haunted houses in this way. The scarcity of the good itself is almost entirely the main reason for the large demand, and therefore the large entry fee. Holidays have always been a source of unique goods and services which develop a demand in the market as they approach the date of the holiday. This is how companies today often plan releases. For example, the recent apple event revealed the new Macbook, which they're most likely planning to drop the price for in time for the Christmas and Black Friday in order to increase the demand for their product. I think Holidays allow certain companies to improve their profit levels because of the scarcity that revolves around them.
ReplyDeleteEvery season has its own service or good sold during that time. The main reason why haunted houses make so much revenue is because to some they are an inelastic good. They are only offered in the fall which is what makes them such a big interest to people. Personally I don’t think driving 30 minutes and paying 25 dollars for an hour in a haunted house is totally worth it. With competition like corn mazes and pumpkin carving I was very surprised by the profit that some houses make. But until they are asking their consumers to pay too much for a ticket, the demand for haunted houses versus the demand for their competitors will remain the same.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you presented the information Skyler. I too believe that Halloween is growing greatly in popularity in today's world. The new, greater demand of people wanted to be scared is causing more and more suppliers to form and give the public what they want: to be scared. Also the fact that people can only get into a haunted house in a small season people will definitely be willing to pay more. This too causes the price to be more inelastic. Overall the haunted house industry is growing exponentially and becoming a very common part of American culture.
ReplyDeleteI like the photo that you have shown above, it is easy to read and it's fun. The demand for Halloween materials during October is fairly high. That being said when people are trying to get a head start on decorating, it's hard because some stores don't have the materials out on display yet. The most Halloween stuff that are probably going to be out at that time will be outfits for smaller children/ young adults. Children are always looking for a cool outfit and so when it's time to look for them you can mostly find them at your local Walmart for a pretty good price. Adults tend to wait till its closer to Halloween, so stores don't really sell to much of those because stores try to get the smaller children's out first, then they put what costumes they have on display.
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