It’s Monday, I’m Nithya Sudhir. I collect words, chase patterns, and write about whatever makes me curious.
Every year, adults stock up on Halloween candy. This year, they started in summer.
Thanks to “Summerween”—Halloween in the middle of summer—67% of parents had already bought some by August, and we are projected to spend $4.1 billion on it this weekend.
Yes! Halloween season is here and it accounts for nearly 18% of all US candy sales in a year. Only Christmas sells more. (Not surprising!)
It started in the 1930s, when the treat was a bribe to keep kids from playing pranks. Hence the famous question at every door, “Trick or treat?”
Nearly a century later, the pranks are gone, but a fun-size Snickers still takes us back to our own trick-or-treat nights, and nostalgia loosens our grip on money.
Halloween is now a $13.5 billion cultural event with a serious sweet tooth. So today we’re asking, why do adults really buy candy?
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Source: Consumer Spending Expected to Reach $13.5 Billion, NRF
We dug through decades of research, and the answers have surprisingly little to do with kids.
Here’s each one, and how brands can use it through the end-of-year holidays.
1. They don’t want to be “that house”
Nobody wants to be the house kids skip. Kids keep score, mapping the best and worst houses on their street, and a Candystore.com survey of 40,000 customers ranked candy corn and circus peanuts the worst treats to hand out.
It’s called the fear of losing face. Shoppers buy to protect how others see them. A 2025 study found that gift buyers on a tight budget even pick quantity over quality to avoid it.
This Halloween, give your customers a treat that makes their house the one kids talk about. A candy brand can offer a premium or surprising version of a favorite. Any other brand can make a branded treat of its own. Louis Vuitton, the house famous for its trunks, sells its own chocolates, shaped like its Damier check and Monogram Flowers.
For BFCM, offer “more pieces” gift sets. 47% of shoppers worry about affording gifts this season.
2. They want in on the ritual
Buying candy is how adults join the neighborhood’s biggest night. On Shady Lane in Ross, California, new neighbors are welcomed with “Get ready for Halloween!”
Taking part matters more than the treat itself. In fact, rituals make treats feel more special. In a 2013 study, people who followed a small unwrapping ritual before eating chocolate rated it tastier, savored it more, and were willing to pay more.
This Halloween, sell treats that look like an occasion, with bold colors and designs that stand out in a bowl of orange wrappers.
3. “It’s for the kids” is an alibi
Adults buy Halloween candy for themselves and credit the kids. 62% buy only candy they’d eat themselves, and 78% of parents admit to stealing from their kids’ stash.
That’s the justification effect at work. Fun purchases come with guilt, and a good reason makes the guilt go away. “It’s for the trick-or-treaters” is the perfect reason.
This Halloween, write to the kid and the kid in the parent/adult at once. Lead with the kids’ excitement, then give the adult permission, with a line like “Grown-ups, save a few for yourselves. We won’t tell.”
For BFCM, the alibi works beyond candy. Toys, games and snack boxes bought “for the kids” often end up with the adults. Write good copy that winks at the buyer and tells them they deserve one too.
4. The empty bowl is scary!
People overbuy candy because running out feels worse than overspending. 71% of Americans buy more than they need, and 55% still dash out for more at the last minute.
A 2026 study found that the fear of regretting not buying drives online impulse purchases, and scarcity messages make it stronger.
Psychologists call it anticipated regret. Shoppers imagine how bad not buying will feel, and buy to avoid that feeling.
This Halloween, add a “backup bag” nudge at checkout and promise “order by Oct 28, at your door before Halloween.”
For BFCM, show an exact arrival date on every product page. Remember, only a third of holiday shoppers feel very confident their orders will arrive by the promised date, and 56% say accurate delivery dates make them more likely to buy.
5. The store told them how much to buy
Shoppers buy the amount the store makes look normal.
That’s the default effect. Whatever comes preselected feels like the standard choice. In a 2024 UK government study of 5,889 shoppers, preselected options made people 60% to 70% more likely to pick the pricier option.
This Halloween, be the store that sets the number. Add a “How much candy do I need?” calculator. Shoppers enter how many trick-or-treaters they expect, and it recommends a bag size at two pieces per kid, plus a backup. Two is already the norm, since 58.4% of people hand out two pieces per trick-or-treater. Add a real-world benchmark, like Ben Reed of Arlington, Texas, who buys 160 to 200 full-size bars every Halloween.
For BFCM, preselect your best-value bundle on every product page. The default you set becomes their idea of a normal spend.
6. In the end, everyone wants to look generous
What people hand out tells the neighbors who they are.
Deloitte behavioral economist Susan Hogan says a big candy bar makes the giver look generous, rich and successful. Because 85% of households hand out smaller sizes, the full-size house stands out.
Psychologists call it impression management. Shoppers spend to shape what others think of them. In a poll of 1,674 people, 73% ranked making the right impression as a top priority when choosing gifts.
This Halloween, offer a full-size tier that looks generous at the door.
For BFCM, only run generous offers you can repeat. Customers get angrier when a generous reward program can’t be kept up than when there was no program at all.
When you were a kid, which Halloween candy did you hope to find in your bag?
Remember, trust is sealed and branded
Did you know that 84.1% parents go through their kids’ candy and 59.4% remove all homemade items.
Unfamiliar brands carry more perceived risk. The poisoned-candy panic was almost entirely a myth, but it still shapes the bowl.
This Halloween, sell the seal. Show tamper-evident packaging, full ingredients and allergen labels up front.
For BFCM, answer the recipient’s doubts on the page. Gift buyers worry whether the gift will be liked and whether it will look cheap. Put reviews, easy returns and gift receipts where they can see them.
How's the depth of today's edition?
Halloween is one of those events where marketers get to see how shoppers really buy.
Imo, shoppers protect their reputation, hunt for permission and hedge against regret, all while saying it’s for someone else. So, sell to the reason, and the cart follows.
I hope you enjoyed today’s edition!
Happy haunting. Happy Halloween!
See you tomorrow,
Nithya
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