View sample charts and complete survey data in NRF's Retail Insight Center
Read NRF's 2014 Halloween consumer spending survey.
Unsurprisingly, Disney’s Frozen Characters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Top Children’s Costume List This Halloween
WASHINGTON, September 26, 2014 – Having taken the world by storm this year, Disney’s Frozen and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters will again come to life this Halloween. According to NRF’s 2014 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, an estimated 2.6 million children plan to dress up as one of Disney’s Frozen characters, while about 1.8 million children will dress as one of the re-imagined classic characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Princess (3.4 million), animal (3 million), and Spider-Man (2.6 million) will be other popular choices for children.
“Children and adults love to celebrate this fall holiday in all sorts of ways, and it’s clear dressing in costume will be a top priority for millions of people this year,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Given the popular holiday falls on a Friday this year, retailers can expect increased web and in-store traffic in the weekdays leading up to the big night, meaning consumers will need to keep their eye on specific must-have items as they are likely to go fast.”
The survey also found 75 million adults will dress in costume, and most will stick to traditional options, including a witch (4.8 million), animal (2.6 million), Batman character (2 million), and pirate (1.8 million)
Findings revealed that among the 14.3 percent of celebrants planning to outfit their pets, 10.8 percent will dress their furry friends as a pumpkin, the top costume again this year. Fido and fluffy will also be found disguised as hot dogs, devils, bumble bees, and cats.
Americans are expected to spend $2.8 billion on Halloween costumes according to NRF’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey. Specifically, consumers will spend $1 billion on children’s costumes, $1.4 billion on adult costumes, and $350 million on pet costumes. Total Halloween spending is estimated to reach $7.4 billion this year, with the average person spending $77.52 on indoor and outdoor décor, costumes, and candy.
“It’s clear people love to get creative with costumes, looking for inspiration from pop-culture and politics to history, and even the make-believe and fantasy world,” said Prosper Insights Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “We’re surprised each year with the range of different costumes, and I’m sure this Halloween will be no exception, especially given the historic number of people planning to buy costumes for themselves, their children and even their pets.”
Top Costumes (Adults, Children and Pets)Top Adult Costumes
1. Witch
2. Animal
3. Batman Character
4. Pirate
5. Zombie
6. Vampire
7. Doctor/Nurse
8. Action/Super Hero
9. Princess
10.Wench/Tart/Vixen
Top Children's Costumes
1. Princess
2. Animal
3. Spider-Man
4. Frozen Character
5. Action/Super Hero
6. Batman Character
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
8. Witch
9. Pirate
10. Superman
Top Pet Costumes
1. Pumpkin
2. Hot Dog
3. Devil
4. Bumble Bee
5. Cat
6. Batman Character
7. Superman
8. Witch
9. (T) Ghost
9. (T) Pirate
10. Star Wars Character
About the survey
NRF’s 2014 Halloween consumer spending surveys were designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Halloween spending. The surveys were conducted for NRF by Prosper Insights and Analytics. The poll of 6,332 consumers was conducted from September 2-8, 2014. The consumer polls have a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point.
Prosper Insights and Analytics delivers executives timely, consumer-centric insights from multiple sources. As a comprehensive resource of information, Prosper represents the voice of the consumer and provides knowledge to marketers regarding consumer views on the economy, personal finance, retail, lifestyle, media and domestic and world issues. www.ProsperDiscovery.com
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF.com