Easter 2024 – Consumer behaviours


Another Easter has come and gone. This time of year holds different meanings for many, some religious and some to enjoy sweet treats!

There’s no denying the impact, particularly in food retail with a Sunday roast, snacks and treats, and flowers.

We wanted to find out key consumer opinions and behaviours around this period, so we ran some research with the nationally representative Vypr Community of consumers.

1 – Consumer Sentiment

How many people are celebrating Easter?

When we asked our consumer sample, 61% said they’ll be celebrating this year, however, 12% were still undecided!

Around 29% of those who identified as male said they won’t be celebrating, compared to the lower figure of 23% for females. Women were more undecided at 19%, compared to 14% of males.

How do people feel about Easter weekend?

We ran a sentiment analysis with our sample to find out.

More than half responded positively with many looking forward to an excuse to spend time with family, with a small number believing it’s another money-making holiday.

Here are some thoughts from our sample…

“I think easter celebrations should centre on the religious side and children should be taught the meaning of easter. It\’s nice to have easter themed treats and activities as long as people know why.”

“I think both the religious and commercial celebrations at Easter are a good thing. They bring families and communities together and bring joy and happiness to all.”

“I’m not a big fan. Seems like the British public are pushed from one “celebration “ to another by marketing. Never an opportunity missed to monetise everything and the original meaning of the events is buried under an avalanche of spending.”

This pattern of sentiments changed minimally across age and gender groups.

 

2 – Consumer Shopping Behaviour

Though this is traditionally a religious holiday, stores provide a lot of sweet treats and snacks to enjoy to celebrate.

The most popular is, the chocolate egg!

How many planned to buy chocolate eggs?

We found out that the majority of our sample (67%) were planning to buy them.

When asked where from, an overwhelming 82% planned to buy from the supermarket. Less than 5% were buying them from a specialist chocolate store or Online.

What other treats did they enjoy?

We discovered that our sample was open to trying different treats, but nothing quite beat the traditional hot cross bun this year.

(please note that consumers were able to select multiple options)

We also asked what meat/meat alternative they would be enjoying for lunch.

Lamb was the clear winner with 40%, followed by Chicken (22%) and Beef (14%).

The Vypr Easter Video

For further insight, watch the Vypr Easter Video below to see what consumers favourite chocolate egg brand is… watch our video