It is October 1st, and as I go into the Loblaws in South Keys I cannot help but notice big square boxes filled with bright, orange, pumpkins. Even though it is my fourth year, here in Canada, it is still a strange view for me, as I had never seen a pumpkin in my life before, yet alone hundreds of them. As I do my groceries I cannot stop but think about the weird holiday that is Halloween. People buying the pumpkins not for consumption, but for decoration. In my way home, my thoughts intensify as, I see houses covered in Spider Webs, skeletons hanging from trees, and ghosts in almost every backyard.
For me, it is something very unique as I come from Ecuador, a country which Halloween is not celebrated. This is why every year since I been to Carleton as an International student, around this time of the year, I can't help but wonder why do people spend so much in decorations and candy, so much effort in carving pumpkins, and why is the scary celebrated. Halloween is the only time of the year we enjoy terror, and that is not a normal thing if you have not being raised to accept that. Think about it, Halloween is celebrated by all ages and in different ways. Little kids dress up, often resembling something scary and go out at night to the famous "Trick or Treat". College students find yet another excuse to drink and party dressed up. (And personally I found it quite funny because I have heard from various physiology professors that a person is much more willing to do something they would normally not do if they have something to cover their identity.
Going further into this extraneous, yet fascinating day, I have decided to do some research on where did it originally came from. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samahia, which is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. It was used as an announcement so that the ancient pagans took stock of supplies and prepare for winter. Furthermore “ The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.” Irish and Scottish immigrants brought this celebration to North America.
But what does it mean from a consumer perspective?
First, it is interesting to analyze some Halloween economics, Businesses had seen the demand for candy, masks, pumpkins etc. as an opportunity to boost sales and now provide the customer with everything Halloween related to increase their revenues. Currently, is impossible to walk down the street and not see a store advertisement their new “pumpkin flavor” or their “discounts for customs and candy" It is estimated that Halloween expenditures in 2012 in the USA almost equal the government expenditures of Kenya for the year. Can you imagine spending the same amount in candy, customs, and one-time disposable decorations in one month than a government spends to build roads, schools, and hospitals in a whole year?
Sales for Halloween are also rising with an expected total expenditure of 8 billion dollars. YES BILLION DOLLARS.
It is calculated that total expenditures in costumes are around 2.87 billion dollars, decorations 2.36 billion dollars, and Candy 2.33 billion dollars. It is also important to note that men spend more in Halloween with an average of 90.11$ compared to 70.11$ in woman So here, as a consumer, one very important question rises, what is the consumer really buying? Should consumption for a holiday which point is hard to understand (no offense intended) should really be this high?
Within this context, I believe it is very important to talk about values and materialism. A value is defined as a belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite. It is important to discuss values because they are central to what makes a consumer distinct in their consumption, and I believe halloween highlights a lot of cultural values that can be sometimes surprising. Halloween can be seen as an example of how values in different countries vary. Even though this is not a journal that talks about the "morally correct" allocation of money, it is interesting how we can see different lifestyles and how their cultural values and lifestyles influence their consumption patterns. For example, we can see how in North America, an entire industry has been created to satisfy their lifestyle of consumption which includes pumpkin farms, decoration factories, and the mass production of candies. A lifestyle can be defined as "a pattern of consumption, reflecting a person’s choices of how s/he spends time
and money. Choices make a statement about who that person is and the types of
people with whom s/he wishes to identify". In this case, in Halloween we can see the American lifestyle of heavy consumerism, and heavy festive decorations, to celebrate something that for many (in my point of view) is not clear.
Halloween is an example on how North Americans, especially Americans, rank high in a value of materialism. Materialism refers to "the importance people attach to worldly possessions" (SWD. 177). In this celebration, houses are often decorated with disposable spider webs, skeletons, zombies, and other terrifying material. Also, as mentioned above, an average of 80 dollars is spent per person in a one time custom, that will serve its purpose only for one night; and that is a lot.
Were I am trying to get into, is the great opportunities that producers have during this celebration, and how seamlessly pointless celebration can get each family to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in what society has said is "appropriate decorations and customs". Halloween gives producers of almost anything a great opportunity to get to consumers, advertising their pumpkin flavors and seasonal products.
It is interesting, now getting into consumer behavior how consumers are willing to spend money in something that they would not normally do, if it was in other occasion. I believe nobody will be willing to spend five dollars in a pumpkin outside of a Halloween context and this demonstrates the powerfulness of occasions on influencing consumer behavior. Also, getting back into what was mentioned before of different values and lifestyles, it is very interesting to see how different lifestyles, and societies influence on values can influence consumer behavior. For example, were I come from, the idea of dressing up sounds plain ridiculous, let alone spend an average of 80 dollars per person in doing so (taking into account that minimum wage is 250 dollars per month). This, not counting how many dollars are spent in decorations and candy.
Not being born with the idea of Halloween, again, it is interesting to see how candy sales boost and the huge opportunities there are for marketers to appeal to halloween consumers. As a personal experience, it is surprising to the levels marketers have gotten this days with personalized figure candy, candy of all kinds of flavors and, and all kinds of sizes. Even though I do not understand why such a sweet treat is handed out in such a scary holiday, this is a very big opportunity for producers, as consumers lifestyles demand for candies of all flavors sizes and decorations.
This being said, companies have huge opportunities in what is now called occasion marketing. Companies can take advantage of any holiday and use it to launch limited edition products, do especial promotions, and give especial deals. Holidays and festive days mean a lot to companies as it is their opportunity to sell their products. For example in Halloween, all sort of businesses take advantage by selling customs, candy, and even flavored products, such as Starbuck´s famous Pumpkin spice late. There is a huge opportunity to create themed promotions and advertisements, that will get people in the mood of the holiday, hence not seeing the advertisement as intrusive. As a consumer and a future marketer, it is interesting to note how companies take advantage of these holidays and festive days to increase consumption. Do doubt about it, festive days are a huge opportunity for companies (and every company should use it) to advertise, promote, and get people to consume. In the extreme hand, there are holidays that have been completely transformed into consumer feasts. For example, one day after Thanksgiving in America, a festive night has been created to celebrate consumption. Black Friday as it is known, gets people crazy, and makes people often buy what they don't need, only because of huge sales. The focus is, that regardless which holiday or festive day, companies should use them as an opportunity to promote consumption of their products, and as statistics have shown, they are days were themed consumption increases profits for companies.
It is not surprising that for its high demand on decorations, candies, and customs, Halloween had become the second largest grossing holiday after Christmas. Halloween even though as I said before, difficult to understand, makes consumers purchase in intense quantities and producers supply occasion products that serve their customer needs, making this celebration a huge consumer feast.
It is interesting, now getting into consumer behavior how consumers are willing to spend money in something that they would not normally do, if it was in other occasion. I believe nobody will be willing to spend five dollars in a pumpkin outside of a Halloween context and this demonstrates the powerfulness of occasions on influencing consumer behavior. Also, getting back into what was mentioned before of different values and lifestyles, it is very interesting to see how different lifestyles, and societies influence on values can influence consumer behavior. For example, were I come from, the idea of dressing up sounds plain ridiculous, let alone spend an average of 80 dollars per person in doing so (taking into account that minimum wage is 250 dollars per month). This, not counting how many dollars are spent in decorations and candy.
Not being born with the idea of Halloween, again, it is interesting to see how candy sales boost and the huge opportunities there are for marketers to appeal to halloween consumers. As a personal experience, it is surprising to the levels marketers have gotten this days with personalized figure candy, candy of all kinds of flavors and, and all kinds of sizes. Even though I do not understand why such a sweet treat is handed out in such a scary holiday, this is a very big opportunity for producers, as consumers lifestyles demand for candies of all flavors sizes and decorations.
This being said, companies have huge opportunities in what is now called occasion marketing. Companies can take advantage of any holiday and use it to launch limited edition products, do especial promotions, and give especial deals. Holidays and festive days mean a lot to companies as it is their opportunity to sell their products. For example in Halloween, all sort of businesses take advantage by selling customs, candy, and even flavored products, such as Starbuck´s famous Pumpkin spice late. There is a huge opportunity to create themed promotions and advertisements, that will get people in the mood of the holiday, hence not seeing the advertisement as intrusive. As a consumer and a future marketer, it is interesting to note how companies take advantage of these holidays and festive days to increase consumption. Do doubt about it, festive days are a huge opportunity for companies (and every company should use it) to advertise, promote, and get people to consume. In the extreme hand, there are holidays that have been completely transformed into consumer feasts. For example, one day after Thanksgiving in America, a festive night has been created to celebrate consumption. Black Friday as it is known, gets people crazy, and makes people often buy what they don't need, only because of huge sales. The focus is, that regardless which holiday or festive day, companies should use them as an opportunity to promote consumption of their products, and as statistics have shown, they are days were themed consumption increases profits for companies.
It is not surprising that for its high demand on decorations, candies, and customs, Halloween had become the second largest grossing holiday after Christmas. Halloween even though as I said before, difficult to understand, makes consumers purchase in intense quantities and producers supply occasion products that serve their customer needs, making this celebration a huge consumer feast.
http://blog.inomics.com/en/halloween-economics-who-spends-money-on-what/
http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=7058
Solomon, M. R., Zaichkowsky, J. L. and
Polegato, R. (2013) Consumer Behaviour:
Buying, Having, and Being, Sixth Canadian Edition. Toronto: Prentice Hall
Canada.
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