Easter Economics
Jordan Schlender
As we approach the Easter holiday, it probably doesn’t catch you by surprise when you see plastic eggs and piles of candy lining the store shelves. Normally Halloween classifies as the “candy holiday,” but Easter ranks second. Every one in four consumers who celebrate, spend a total of about $16.8 billion dollars on the holiday; this is about $145.28 on average per person (Report). About 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies, 700 million Marshmallow Peeps and about 16 billion jelly beans will be bought each year. This demand for candy has increased over the years. Compared to 2011, the demand increase has escalated by about eleven-percent (Report).
As we approach the Easter holiday, it probably doesn’t catch you by surprise when you see plastic eggs and piles of candy lining the store shelves. Normally Halloween classifies as the “candy holiday,” but Easter ranks second. Every one in four consumers who celebrate, spend a total of about $16.8 billion dollars on the holiday; this is about $145.28 on average per person (Report). About 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies, 700 million Marshmallow Peeps and about 16 billion jelly beans will be bought each year. This demand for candy has increased over the years. Compared to 2011, the demand increase has escalated by about eleven-percent (Report).
Gwartney
As the visual demonstrates, when the demand curve shifts from D1 to D2 during the holiday season, this creates a higher point of equilibrium between suppliers and consumers. This means the selling price for eggs alone, will increase drastically. In fact, overall as easter egg hunts and celebrations become bigger and better than ever, producers are able to increase the supply of Easter goods. This brings in more revenue as they also increase the prices around Easter time for their benefit.
If the price of P1 stayed consistent all year round, during the holiday season there would be a higher demand than suppliers are willing to supply, so this is why it results in a shift to the right- so the price of equilibrium changes as well (Gwartney).
No matter what their motive is, people will continue buying products relating to Easter. Between cards, outfits, and candy, the majority of the product goes toward family members and for various parties. Most think the easter candy tastes awful because chocolate bunnies are a million times sweeter than your average candy bar, but people continue to purchase the chocolate bunnies because they are easter related and children would rather receive bunnies in an Easter basket than a Kit Kat that they could buy any time at the store.
One controversy is about whether all of the bunny decorations and candy take away from the true meaning of Easter. As the holiday itself relates to Christian ideals, the church attendance rates increase specifically increase on this day.
As indicated, the church attendance is expected to increase by almost double this year (Rankin). Churches are doing all they can to bring people into the church. With the holiday, they increase the amount of activities they offer and amp up their services to draw in more attendance after the holiday as well. At my church, they offer a giant egg drop where they drop thousands of eggs from helicopters in an open field. Families love this event. But churches don’t only put this on for appreciation, they use the holiday for their advantage in hopes of recruiting new regular attending members.
This isn’t just churches. Stores go all out with decorating their stores and offering the best products. There is competition between the goods at various stores and when they set them out. Just like Christmas decorations, Easter goods make appearances earlier and earlier each year, making people eager to buy them specifically from their store. As spring approaches, most people can’t resist.
Altogether, the overall demand for Easter goods/ clothing and decorations increases drastically, giving suppliers the opportunity to sell at higher prices. Since people will buy decorations and especially candy, no matter what, both the consumers and suppliers end up happy. The number of candy projected to be bought has only been increasing over the years, and this is because the demand increases each year. This is expected to be this way for the next several years. I hope everyone has a good dentist they can see to get rid of the jelly jeans stuck in their teeth.
Works Cited
- Gwartney, James D. Economics: Private and Public Choice. Australia, South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009.
- Rankin, Russ. “Survey: One in Five Americans Undecided About Easter Church Attendance.” Survey: One in Five Americans Undecided About Easter Church Attendance, www.lifeway.com/Article/research-survey-one-in-five-americans-undecided-about-easter-church-attendance.
- Report, Post Staff. “Easter's Economics.” New York Post, 8 Apr. 2012, nypost.com/2012/04/08/easters-economics/.
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