Marketers fully leverage the emotional side of consumer holiday purchasing, such as the generation of anticipation leading up to major holidays. The appeal of fond memories and traditions also plays a role in the extent to which consumers celebrate holidays in the U.S. The $1+ billion scrap booking industry is an indicator of the importance consumers place on remembering special occasions—a dynamic that is highly relevant to holidays. On a broader level, emotional cues—including consumer desire to create holiday celebrations that are worth remembering—promote consumer spending on seasonal goods and, in many instances, gifts.

Growth in consumer expenditures differs by holiday, as indicated by the 7% growth of Christmas and Halloween expenditures between 2002 and 2004. While holiday spending can include goods ranging from food and beverage to automobiles, the holiday spending categories highlighted throughout this report incorporate analysis of decorations, candy, gifts, food and other seasonal purchases consumers make. As such, purchases specific to certain holidays such as Halloween costumes, Christmas trees and Independence Day fireworks are also included because of the seasonal intensity of sales of such products.


Table of contents:

Introduction and Abbreviations Introduction Other relevant reports Definition Abbreviations & terms Abbreviations Terms Executive Summary Spending is driven by economics, tradition and retail activity Retailers and holiday sales Participation and spending varies by holiday Consumer attitudes toward holidays influence spending behavior Decorating Gift giving Holiday credit card use Gift cards Holiday spending fluctuates significantly by occasion Market Drivers  Holiday expenditure driven by economic trendsFigure 1: Key economic indicators (GDP, PDI, savings, unemployment), 1999-2004 The role of disposable incomeFigure 2: Household income distribution, by age of householder, 2003 Insights into consumer confidenceFigure 3: Historical consumer sentiment index, 1999-2005 Figure 4: Graph: Historic consumer sentiment index, 1999-2005 The impact of population trendsFigure 5: U.S. population by age, 2000-2010 Figure 6: U.S. population by generation, 2005 Households with childrenFigure 7: Households with children under age 18 present, by age of householder, 1994-2004 Figure 8: Presence of children in households, by age of householder, 2003Figure 9: Graph: Shares of households with and without children, by age of householder, 2003 Hispanic consumers and holiday consumptionFigure 10: U.S. population by race/ethnicity, 2000-2010 Figure 11: U.S. purchasing power, by race/Hispanic origin, 1990-2007 Retailer dynamics influence holiday consumptionFigure 12: Percentage of U.S. annual sales for leading retail sectors, by month, 2004 Retailers promote “seasonal” all year long Holiday timing Seasonal merchandising between major holidaysFigure 13: FDM sales of all seasonal chocolates, 2004 Online retail gives holiday shoppers more optionsFigure 14: Online holiday spending, by travel and non-travel (retail) sectors, 2003 & 2004 Figure 15: Top 15 gaining retail online properties, 2003-2004 Marketing efforts influence consumer behaviorFigure 16: Frequency of greeting card purchase, by gender, December 2004 Consumers connect to holidays through shopping, traditionFigure 17: Justifiers for buying discretionary products, 2003 Religious and cultural aspectsFigure 18: Religious preference, church membership and attendance, 1980-2002 Post-holiday shopping and holidays as promotional kickoffs Market Size and Trends OverviewFigure 19: Sales of holiday products, by holiday, 2002 and 2004 Figure 20: Total value of U.S. consumer Christmas shopping expenditures, at current and constant prices, 1999-2004 Holiday participationFigure 21: Holiday participation, by incidence of participations and spending, January 2005Figure 22: Graph: Holiday participation, by incidence of participations and spending, top seven, January 2005 Holiday Spending by Category IntroductionFigure 23: Sales of select holiday shopping products, segmented by product type, 2002 and 2004 Gifts Figure 24: Sales of holiday gifts, 2002-2004 Gift buying cycle Gift cards Self giving ConfectioneryFigure 25: Sales of holiday candy, 1999-2004*Figure 26: Graph: Sales of holiday candy, 1999-2004* Leading confectionery holidays Premium confectioneryFigure 27: Occasions/holidays given gourmet chocolates, by gender, December 2004 Seasonal decorations Christmas decorations Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations Independence Day decorations Greeting cardsFigure 28: Sales of seasonal cards by holiday, 1999-2004 Consumer Attitudes Toward Holidays  Introduction Overview Attitudes towards celebrating holidaysFigure 29: Attitudes towards celebrating holidays, agree summary, January 2005 Figure 30: Attitudes towards celebrating holidays, agree summary, by gender, January 2005 Figure 31: Attitudes towards celebrating holidays, agree summary, by age, January 2005 Figure 32: Attitudes towards celebrating holidays, agree summary, by presence of children, January 2005 Figure 33: Attitudes towards celebrating holidays, agree summary, by marital status, January 2005 Purchase-related attitudes and behaviorFigure 34: Purchase-related attitudes and behavior, agree summary, January 2005 Figure 35: Purchase-related attitudes and behavior, agree summary, by age, January 2005 Figure 36: Incidence of repayment of holiday credit card debt within two months following holiday, January 2005 Attitudes toward gift givingFigure 37: Gift-giving attitudes and behavior, agree summary, January 2005 Figure 38: Gift-giving attitudes and behavior, agree summary, by gender, January 2005 Figure 39: Gift-giving attitudes and behavior, agree summary, by age, January 2005 Holiday Shopping by Occasion Overview Figure 40: Incidence of holiday participation, topline analysis, January 2005 Expenditure summaryFigure 41: Mean holiday expenditure and expenditure level categories, by holiday, January 2005 Figure 42: Graph: Mean holiday expenditure, by holiday, January 2005 Holiday briefing New Year’s Celebration participationFigure 43: New Year’s participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 44: New Year’s 2005, product launches by category, December 13, 2004 to January 10, 2005 Valentine’s Day Celebration participationFigure 45: Valentine’s Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 46: Valentine’s Day 2005, product launches by category, January 31, 2005 to February 28, 2005 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration participationFigure 47: St. Patrick’s Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristics Easter Celebration participationFigure 48: Easter participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 49: Easter 2005, product launches by category, March 7, 2005 to April 4, 2005 Mother’s Day Celebration participationFigure 50: Mother’s Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 51: Mother’s Day 2004, product launches by category, April 19, 2004 to May 17, 2004 Memorial Day Celebration participationFigure 52: Memorial Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 53: Memorial Day 2004, product launches by category, May 17, 2004 to June 14, 2004 Father’s Day Celebration participationFigure 54: Father’s Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 55: Father’s Day 2004, product launches by category, May 31, 2004 to June 28, 2004 Independence Day Celebration participationFigure 56: Independence Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 57: Independence Day 2004, product launches by category, June 21, 2004 to July 19, 2004 FireworksFigure 58: Sales of independence day fireworks, 1999-2004 Labor Day Celebration participationFigure 59: Labor Day participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 60: Labor Day 2004, product launches by category, August 23, 2004 to September 20, 2004 Halloween Celebration participationFigure 61: Halloween participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 62: Halloween 2004, product launches by category, October 11, 2004 to November 8, 2004 Thanksgiving Celebration participationFigure 63: Thanksgiving participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristicsFigure 64: Thanksgiving 2004, product launches by category, November 8, 2004 to December 8, 2004 Hanukkah Celebration participationFigure 65: Hanukkah participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristics Christmas Celebration participationFigure 66: Christmas participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristics Figure 67: Christmas 2004, product launches by category, December 6, 2004 to January 3, 2005 Figure 68: Sales of Christmas trees—real and artificial, 2001-2004 Figure 69: Demographic profile of Christmas spending, January 2005 Kwanzaa Celebration participationFigure 70: Kwanzaa participation, by celebration type, January 2005 Holiday characteristics Appendix: Trade Associations  Appendix: New Product Briefs  New Years Love and Quiches - Millennium Cake Creative Nail Design - Holiday Nail Enamel Extensions Jafra Cosmetics - Define Your Body Product Fresh Trading/Innocent - New Year’s Smoothie Valentine’s Day Hershey’s - Special valentine Design Chocolate Bar Kraft/Crème Savers - Heart-Shaped Hard Candy Name Two’s Company - Red Hot Bath Chanel/Allure - Sheer & Sexy Gift Set St. Patrick’s Day Entenmann’s - Donut Shoppe PopEms Circle of Friends/Lachlan’s - Shamrock Suds Guinness Import/Smithwick’s - Irish Ale Popcorn Factory - St. Patrick’s Day Packaging Easter Hershey’s - Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny Pop Houston Harvest Gift Products/Bratz - “Stylicious” Easter Egg Hoadley’s Chocolates - Disney Winnie the Pooh Easter Egg Pelican Bay - The Easter Bunny’s Pizza Kit Galerie - Musical Jumprope with Candy Interstate Brands/Hostess Ho Ho’s - Chocolate Cakes Easter Repackaging Mother’s Day Chanel/La Collection de Chanel - Lip Colour Wardrobe Mother’s Day Gift Set Selma’s Cookies - Mother’s Day Sampler Basket Indigo Wild - Zum Mum Mother’s Day Lavender-Lemon Gift Pack Memorial Day Brown-Forman - Low-Carb Wines Masterfoods USA/Mars - M&M’s Minis, New Colors Chocolate Candies Foreign Candy - Paint Brush Patriotic Lollipops & Warhead Rip Rolls Father’s Day Interbrew/Leffe - Alcoholic Beverage Repackaging Godiva Chocolatier - Sweet Escape Gift Box Parfums Boucheron/Jaipur Homme - Eau de Toilette for Men Independence Day Pillsbury - Stars & Stripes Funfetti Cake Mix Williams-Sonoma - Fourth of July Floating Candles Nestlé USA - Nestlé Crunch Fun Size Bar Packaging Labor Day ConAgra/Armour - New Limited Edition Hot Dog Packaging Coty - Adidas Moves Fresh For Him Sara Lee Coffee & Tea - Cappuccino, Berry Vanilla Coors - Coors Light 12 Pack Cooler Box Halloween Affy Tapple - Halloween Caramel Apples Claire Murray - Wickedly Wonderful Halloween Kit Yoplait USA - Portable Yogurt Repackaging Signature Chocolates by Rena - Halloween 2005 Chocolates Thanksgiving Cargill Foods/Honeysuckle White - Hickory Smoked Whole Turkey Jones Soda - Holiday Soda Flavors Pepsico - Pepsi-Cola Holiday Spice Georgia Peach/Sugar Plum Fairy - New Cookie Packaging Hanukkah Long Grove Confectionery - Chocolate-Filled Cookie Cutters Lake Champlain - 2004 Winter Holiday Gifts KosherPets - Hanukkah Doggie Treats Christmas Mozzarella Company - Christmas Cheese Archipelago Botanicals - Holiday Soy Candle General Mills/Betty Crocker Boyd Coffee/Italia D’Oro - Seasonal Syrups Crate & Barrel - Santa hat with Double Crisp Chocolates Kwanzaa Seattle Chocolate - Holiday Packaging Assortment Appendix: Research Methodology  Consumer Research Sampling & Weighting Technometrica TechnoExpresssm ICR Surveys EXCEL Simmons National Consumer Surveys Greenfield Online Presentation & Definition Further Analysis Trade Research Informal trade research Formal trade research Desk & Internet Research Sources Definitions Forecasts Appendix: what is Mintel? Mintel Group Mintel Reports Mintel Premier Mintel ECLIPS GNPD Menu Insights Comperemedia Brokertrack Mintel Services Applied Research Mintel Consulting POS+