Hot Trends for October: Halloween, Kindle Fire HD…and Honey Boo Boo?

With the calendar flipping over to November and the holiday season right around the corner, let’s put official closure on October with a look at our “Hot or Not?” segment from our latest monthly survey.

While the holiday itself was a bit of a bust (#thanksSandy), the record number of consumers planning to celebrate this year BOOsted Halloween to the top of our list for October. The new Kindle Fire HD tablet followed closely behind [note: the Apple iPad Mini is currently up at bat in our November survey]. And while both operating systems scored well with consumers, Google’s Android platform eked out a victory over Apple iOS:

Now trending on Forbes.com: The Aging Of Apple? Google Android Voted Coolest Kid On The Playground

Consumers also still seem pretty Taken with Liam Neeson, and The New Normal is looking pretty cool compared to hot competitor Modern Family. Ankle boots and skinny jeans look like they’ll make a trendy transition from fall to winter this year, particularly among women 18-34.

Finally, in what may have renewed my hope in the morality of U.S. consumers: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was voted little Miss “Not” Hot for October.

For more on what we found “Hot or Not?” for the month of October, plus other consumer highlights, check out this month’s video briefing:

Source: BIGinsight.com

© 2012, Prosper®

BIGinsight™ is a trademark of Prosper Business Development Corp.

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Top Halloween Candies to Treat – and to Keep

With a record number of adults celebrating Halloween this year, it’s safe to say that this isn’t a holiday just for the kiddos anymore. Those of us 18+ dress in costume, attend parties, carve pumpkins, decorate our homes/ yards, and even force Fido to get in on the fun. Then there’s the candy. Oh, yes, the candy.

Don’t we all get excited when the Halloween treats hit store shelves around Labor Day? I’ll cop to purchasing four bags of my “fun size” favorites last month. I justified this as shopping ahead for what was sure-to-be an onslaught of little trick-or-treaters on Beggar’s Night this year [side note: we had five last year]. But whether we have one, five, twenty, or fifty little ghosts and goblins, it won’t matter because that candy is gone.

Yes, I had consumed four bags of Halloween candy in a matter of weeks.

Strike that.

Yes, my husband and I had consumed four bags of Halloween candy in a matter of weeks. #shame

But we’re not alone in our sugar-high-inducing disgrace…right? As it turns out, we all have our favorite Halloween candies to treat to others – and to keep for ourselves. According to our October monthly survey of nearly 9,000 consumers, about one in five (20.1%) of those with a preference cite Snickers® as their favorite candy to pass out on Beggar’s Night, double the popularity of the next brand on their list, Reese’s® (10.8%) and consistent with last year’s findings.* Expect plenty of Kit Kat® Bars (6.7%), M&M’s® (6.3%), and Hershey® Bars (4.8%) among trick-or-treaters’ Halloween hauls this year as well.

I tend to get a Halloween hankering for three bags worth of Reese’s® Pieces each year [loved them since E.T. #productplacementworks], and I’m glad to see that this craving is perfectly normal: when it comes to the candy that connoisseurs would prefer to keep at home, Reese’s® (16.1%) has a slight edge over Snicker’s® (15.1%), while Candy Corn (7.9%), Kit Kat® (5.7%), and M&M’s® (5.2%) follow.

Although Halloween is still a week away, Beggar’s Night can’t come soon enough. There’s a bag of Milky Way® bars at my house about to become extinct.

For more new insights on Halloween from our October survey, see Consumers’ Cure for Stress? Halloween

And, for Halloween data released earlier in the month by our friends at the National Retail Federation, including spending, activities, planned costumes, and a fabulous infographic, please click here.

* Favorite candy brands to pass out to trick-or-treaters and to keep at home are the results of two unaided, write-in questions. Percentages displayed in this report are based on consumers expressing a preference.

Source: BIGinsight.com

© 2012, Prosper®

BIGinsight™ is a trademark of Prosper Business Development Corp.

Consumers’ Cure for Stress? Halloween

What do you get when you combine tenuous consumer confidence, discouraging employment outlook, and an upcoming Presidential election? Economic uncertainty, which generally leads to consumers clamping down harder on their wallets. That’s not quite the case, though, with Halloween.

This year, a record number of consumers (71.5%) plan to spend a record amount of money ($79.82) on the holiday according to insights we collected for the National Retail Federation. As BIGinsight EVP Phil Rist puts it: “There’s some pent-up demand for having some fun this year.”

Aside from fun, though, it seems that a growing number of consumers is viewing Halloween as having, well, a therapeutic benefit. According to the latest insights from our October survey, one in four celebrants (25.6%) agreed that Halloween “somewhat” or “very much” a stress reliever, rising 20% from last year. And, that number grows substantially among the age groups most likely to don a costume or head to a party this year: 18-24 year olds (39.5%) and 25 to 34 year olds (36.8%), both up from a year ago.

Interestingly, while the thought that Halloween relieves stress declines with age (see chart below), the number of 45 to 54 year olds adhering to this sentiment has risen 36% over a year ago – the highest growth in any age group. Perhaps it’s because this group – on the cusp of retirement and/or sending kids to college and/or worrying about property values and/or etc. – might be most in need of a little levity.

My tip for a low-stress Halloween? Nix the raisins on Beggar’s Night. Passing out some sugar to the neighbor kids sure beats pulling endless amounts of toilet paper out of your trees the next morning.

Source: BIGinsight.com

© 2012, Prosper®

BIGinsight™ is a trademark of Prosper Business Development Corp.

Embracing Escapism: 70% Plan to Celebrate Halloween This Year

With the U.S. economy on unsteady ground for the past several years, have consumers just given up on a full recovery? We talk about terms like the “new normal” and wonder if the uncertain economy is just now a part of life. But consumers can’t live their lives mired in the doldrums; we seem to be gravitating toward outlets that give us freedom to laugh, enjoy life, and let us forget the everyday “norm.” It’s called escapism. For some, it’s following all things Kardashian, striking up a dialogue on the latest Here Comes Honey Boo Boo exploits, or waiting in line for the new Apple iPhone 5. For many of us – 7 in 10 to be exact – it’ll mean celebrating Halloween this year.

For the past ten years, BIGinsight has been a proud provider of Halloween insights for the National Retail Federation, and this year, we found that 170 million adults will be partaking in the festivities, a new record. Whether it’s attending a party, passing out candy, or even getting Fido in on the act, consumers seem bound and determined to release that pent-up demand for having some fun despite everyday uncertainties. And of the $8 billion dollars consumers are expected to spend on the holiday, nearly $3 billion will be scared up for costumes – and some of this year’s favorites are shown below in the NRF’s Halloween 2012 infographic.