New research from YouGov Omnibus hints that those in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales may be losing their enthusiasm for Halloween, with attendance at parties and overall spend at a relatively low level.
This year around half of the adults in Scotland (52%), Wales (48%) and Northern Ireland (46%) will neither throw nor go to a Halloween party, while 1 in 5 (20%) of Northern Irish adults claim that they will not be celebrating Halloween at all, this increases to 24% in Scotland and 32% in Wales. Women in Scotland appear to be more likely to get into the spirit of Halloween than men this year, with Scottish women more likely to attend a Halloween party than men.
Retailers will be hoping for a boost in sales to coincide with the night. However, over half of Scottish adults (55%) intend to spend £10 or less on Halloween products this year, while under half in Wales and Northern Ireland claim they will spend l£10 or less (43% and 41% respectively).
Trick-or-treating may be one area that is maintaining its popularity however, with just less than half of parents with children aged 5-16 year olds in both Scotland (46%) and Northern Ireland (47%) expecting their children to be trick-or-treating this year. Welsh respondents claim that their children are less likely than other nations to be partaking in the traditional Halloween activity this year (37%).
Given the lack of eagerness to go out and celebrate, it seems little surprise that ‘watching horror films’ is amongst the most popular activities for those celebrating Halloween across the countries, with 12% across all countries claiming this to be their favourite Halloween activity.
Head of the YouGov Scottish Omnibus team Stephanie Frost commented on the results: “The findings may hint at Halloween’s diminishing popularity across the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which highlights a potential problem for retailers looking to cash-in on the occasion. Perhaps a more inventive and innovative strategy will be needed to rejuvenate excitement in future years.”
Find out more about our Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Omnibus
