2015 Halloween Trends

Adult:  1. witch | 2. animal | 3. Batman | 4. zombie | 5. Star Wars character | 6. pirate | 7. vampire | 8. action / super hero | 9. doctor / nurse | 10 Slasher movie | 10. political (tie) | 11. wench / vixen | 12. Minion 

Children: 1. princess | 2. Batman character | 3. action / super hero | 4. animal | 5. Disney Frozen | 6. Star Wars | 7. Zombie | 8. witch | 9. pumpkin | 10. Minion

Pet Costume: 1. pumpkin | 2. hot dog | 3. Batman character | 4. devil | 5. bumble bee | 6. dog | 7. cat | 8. Star Wars character | 9. bowties / bandanas | 9. shark (tie) | 10. princess | 11. Minion

When it comes to how consumers plan to celebrate, most will hand out candy (67.8%), or dress in costume (43.5%). 41% plan to carve pumpkins.  31.5% are throwing or attending a party with friends and family.

More consumers have decided to head to stores or shop online early to pick out costumes and decorations. More than one-third of consumers 34.1% started their Halloween shopping before the first of October, up slightly from 32.1 percent last year, while 40.9% will get started in the first half of the month and 25% of celebrants wait for the final weeks of October.

Similar to past years, 31.4% of consumers find inspiration for their costumes online. 26.8%  will head to costume shops and retail stores before they make a final decision. 13.3% look for costume ideas on Pinterest.

Millennials remain the drivers of Pinterest traffic around Halloween though with 24.9 percent of 18-24 year olds and 23.7 percent of 25-34 year olds using the site for costume inspiration.

Maintaining their 11 year reign, princess costumes top the children’s costume list with an estimated 3.2 million wearing them. Another 2 million will be their favorite Disney “Frozen” character. Additionally, more than 1.8 million children will don a “Star Wars” costume and 1 million will select a little yellow Minion costume as they take to the streets this Halloween.

For 11 years straight, a witch costume has been the top adult choice for more than 4.3 million adults. “Star Wars” characters ranked 5^th for adults this year after tying for 12^th last year: 1.4 million adults will channel Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda or another beloved “Star Wars” character this Halloween. Animal characters (2.4 million), “Batman” characters (2 million) and zombie (1.9 million) round out the top five adult costumes.

Additionally, 774,000 adults chose a political character as their preferred costume this year.

About one in 10 Halloween celebrants (12.9%) plan to dress their furry friends in costumes this year, and of the 80% of those surveyed who have already selected the costume, 10.6% chose a pumpkin.