Holiday Consumer Behavior Trends: Easter

Olivia Fogo, Iselin Noevik, Danniella Perkins, Adam Lubell

Dr. Gupta

Consumer Behavior MKT 437-201

5 April 2022
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Holiday Consumer Behavior Trends: Easter

Historical Background

The word “Easter'' can be traced to multiple linguistic roots. One of the roots of the word

originates from the Norse eostur, eastur, or ostara, meaning “the season of the growing sun” or “the

season of new birth.” Similarly, the English word "Easter'' comes from eostre, or eostrae, the Anglo-

Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Lastly, “Easter '' derives from the Latin word in albis, a phrase

plural for alba, meaning “dawn," that evolved to eostarum in Old High German, a precursor to the

English language of today (Hillerbrand, History.com Editors a). Therefore, despite numerous roots and

evolution of the word, “Easter'' historically represented birth, spring, and new beginnings.

The Easter holiday can be found throughout numerous religious histories; Easter possesses

multiple religious origins. In summation, Easter began as an unnamed celebration of rebirth, spring, and

new beginnings which Christianity and Judaism adopted to emphasize the sects’ beliefs and histories.

Easter celebrations can be found in the earliest history as a Pagan celebration. In Paganism, Easter began

as a celebration of spring, rebirth, and new beginnings (Pagan Roots of Easter). However, Easter can be

most commonly associated with its Christian and Catholic history. The holiday represents one of the most

significant celebrations in the Christian calendar. In Christianity, Easter commemorates the resurrection

of Jesus as depicted in the Bible. Christianity believes the meaning of Easter comes from Jesus’ triumph

over death and the subsequent eternal life and forgiveness granted to all who believe in Him (History.com

Editors a). In the Jewish tradition, Jesus’ arrest and execution occurred during the Jewish observance of

Passover. Therefore, the Jewish tradition, while not specifically celebrating the Christian holiday of

Easter, connects Easter alongside the Hebrew holiday of Passover (History.com Editors a). Though with

differences in historical meaning and traditional celebration, both holidays celebrate God’s intervention in

history, focus on the redemption of humankind, and both celebrate religious festivals. Today, while Easter

continues in religious associations and celebrations, the holiday has become a commercialized and non-

denominational celebration as well.

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Easter Symbols and Traditions

Similar to the roots of the Easter holiday, the origins of numerous Easter symbols and traditions

can be traced to religious beginnings. Easter traditions and symbols have evolved over time, experiencing

changes in social meaning and implication as well as being subjected to commercialization.

One of the staple symbols of the Easter holiday comes from the image of the Easter egg. The

Easter egg can first be observed in Pagan traditions; the egg represents fertility and birth. The egg, the

ancient symbol of new life, associates with Pagan festivals celebrating spring (Pagan Roots of Easter). In

addition to the Pagan tradition, the egg can be seen as a symbol of Easter in Christianity. From a Christian

perspective, the Easter egg represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. The popular

tradition of decorating eggs for Easter dates back to at least the 13th century; according to some sources,

one explanation for the custom results from eggs being formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten

season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting,

then eat them on Easter as a celebration (Hillerbrand). Today, the symbol of the egg has been highly

commercialized in relation to the Easter holiday. The industrial revolution combined with the rise of

commercialism during the 18th and 19th centuries saw the egg cement its places in our Easter traditions

(Pagan Roots of Easter). Greeting cards possessed the image of the egg, while confectionary companies

such as Cadbury starting manufacturing chocolate eggs during the late 1800s. Today, the symbol of the

egg can be found in plastic shapes, candies, jewelry, chocolates, decorations, and children’s products. The

tradition of Easter eggs can be found in egg painting, egg hunts, egg baskets, and egg rolls. Easter egg

painting and Easter egg hunts represent commercialized, non-religious household Easter tradition.

Originating from historical contexts, the Easter egg evolved in a commercial symbol of the Easter

holiday.

As one of the predominant character representations of the Easter holiday, the Easter bunny

possess a history similar to that of the Easter egg. The symbol of the bunny, similar to the egg, can be

traced to Pagan origins. The commonly depicted Easter bunny comes from the Pagan festival of Eostre, a

northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare (Pagan Roots of Easter). As a highly reproductive
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animal, the bunny represents birth and new life, commonly related to the typical associations of the spring

season. According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German

immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called

“Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws” (History.com Editors b). Their children made nests in which this creature

could lay its colored eggs. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and the fabled rabbit’s Easter

morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated

baskets replaced nests, expanding the symbol of the Easter bunny to its current role in the spring holiday.

Thus, the Easter bunny character developed into the staple holiday symbol it is today.

Seasonal flowers can be integrally associated with the Easter holiday and season. As a celebration

of new life, new beginnings, and birth, the Easter symbol of flowers can be traced to religious origins. In

addition, white lilies serve as a Christian symbol for the purity of Christ. These flowers can be found as

common decorations in churches and homes around the holiday season. Moreover, the adornment and

growth of flowers symbolize the hope and rebirth of Christ’s resurrection. Today, flowers continue to be

seen as a decoration for Easter, as well as representing gifts of endearment and symbols of the new

spring.

Food possesses a significant role within the Easter holiday. In western Christianity, the period

prior to Easter holds the significance of a period of fasting and penitence, called Lent. During the time of

Lent, Christian’s sacrifice habits, foods, desires, or behaviors in reverence to Jesus. Easter, then, becomes

the celebration of the end of the time of fasting and limitation; therefore, the Easter tradition of large

gatherings and indulgent meals comes as a response to the prior tradition of Lent. Within Jewish

traditions, an Easter dinner of lamb symbolizes the sacrifices within the Jewish Passover as well as the

sacrificial nature of the “lamb of God,” Jesus' death. The symbolism of food and the large Easter

gathering, therefore, can be traced to religious origins. However, over time, the sales of food became

commercialized as specific foods, such as eggs, lamb, ham, carrots, rolls or buns, and festive cakes,

became a holiday staple for consumers.

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A facet of food consumption, Easter represents the second best-selling candy holiday in America

after Halloween (History.com Editors b). The consumption of candy and chocolates associated with

Easter emerged with the commercialization of symbols such as the bunny and the egg, as well as the

popularization of Easter traditions such as filled eggs, Easter baskets, and gifts. Among the most popular

sweet treats associated with this day are chocolate eggs, which date back to early 19th century Europe.

Another candy, the jellybean, became associated with Easter in the 1930s. According to the National

Confectioners Association, over 16 billion jellybeans are made in the U.S. each year for Easter, enough to

fill a giant egg measuring 89 feet high and 60 feet wide (History.com Editors b). For the past decade, the

top-selling non-chocolate Easter candy has been the marshmallow Peep, a sugary, pastel-colored

confection; a Pennsylvania-based candy manufacturer began selling Peeps in the 1950s (History.com

Editors b). The original Peeps were handmade, marshmallow-flavored yellow chicks, but other shapes

and flavors were later introduced. Themed candy continues to be a staple symbol of the Easter holiday.

Consumer Well-Being

With the rise of consumerism, all holidays regardless of size or popularity are now

commercialized, including Easter. Easter has gone from being mainly religion-based holiday to a major

retail holiday specifically for food items, toys, décor, and, on a lesser scale, clothing. The overall prime

focus for organizations is to get people to buy into wanting to be seen as a part of the group by purchasing

Easter- related items. However, with this rise in holiday commercialization comes a need to examine how

marketers for the organizations portray these holidays to the public and consumer well-being. Consumer

well-being must always be considered and while business ethics have not been entirely compromised,

they could be considered diluted in some respects. All pieces of marketing have a purpose but, in some

cases, the view of the holiday, the role it plays in culture, or the cultural meaning behind it are being

manipulated by marketers.

Perhaps the biggest negative health indicator in the overall well-being of consumers regarding

Easter is seen in children more specifically those aged 10 and under. Next to Christmas, Easter is a

holiday that highly promotes gift-giving with bad behavior being a cultural reason for no gifts. In
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America, children are told that if they are good the Easter bunny will come and bring them an Easter

basket. In reality though, regardless of the child’s behavior, parents have to have the means to provide an

Easter basket. So, children in disadvantaged families may not receive what their peers receive if anything.

This leads to them feeling as if they were badly behaved and makes them social outcasts. People feel the

need to belong to groups and children who may not have as nice things or clothes are singled out by their

peers and often bullied. A study by experts at the University of Manchester, England has shown that

bullying is a suicide risk in children (Mental Health Practice). In addition to being more at risk for

suicide, children can develop consumer addiction once they possess the means of their own due to the

trauma of missing out within their childhood before.

Another example of promoting ideals through marketing is how traditional societal roles are

subtly portrayed in Cracker Barrel’s 2022 Easter ad. In the 15 second ad, the pressure of

having to have an impressive Easter dinner is shown to be eased by Cracker Barrel providing a to-go

dinner. Notably, the dinner appears to be for a larger group but only a mother and daughter are seen

taking the meal out of the box. The dinner is later shown to be in white dinnerware, steaming, and on a

table without a family present as if it was homemade and waiting to be served. The use of only women

playing a role that traditionally women have had in the home and the societal pressure in some parts of

the world for married women to be good at homemaking fits the insecurities of Cracker Barrel’s target

market. With Cracker Barrel’s main target market being middle-class families in the South, this imagery

subtlety promotes the aforementioned view of the role, as well as the lack of men being contributed to the

disinterest of the males in the said target market in homemaking. Although not as extreme as an example

as before, marketers for Cracker Barrel still manipulated the view of Easter dinner although neither in a

good or bad way objectively this time. The role of women is different across cultures and subcultures, but

in the recent waves of feminism perhaps these roles are dated for some people.

Consumerism can be dark in many aspects, but moderation is needed for the economy overall.

Taking initiatives to become more conscientious is a struggle for organizations, and even seemingly

innocent things such as the Easter bunny story or a simple to-go dinner commercial can hold deeper
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connotations and weight.

Consumption Perceptions

The process of perception that is most effective for marketers to utilize involves using several

different senses to convey a message. Sensory marketing is utilized to make the consumer have an

experience with the product.

At Easter, this comes out mainly in appealing subtly through ads or in-store marketing for candy,

traditionally chocolate eggs or bunnies. In a 2022 Reese’s brand commercial for their chocolate egg,

several senses are appealed to. It begins with a close-up of a Reese brand egg that has a bite taken out of

it. The peanut butter has a texture appealing to the sense of feeling but looks edible appealing taste. From

previous experience, peanut butter has a distinct smell for people appealing to that as well. Sight is

appealed to throughout with bright colors, uniformity within the wall of packaging except in the center,

and the texture at the start. Additionally, the audio is very nostalgic and sounds like listening to television

while inside a television or a window like the Reese’s appear to be.

There are more subconscious levels of perception of well involved in the ad. Subliminal

perception ties the Easter egg back to the pagan origins of being a time of fertility and now in modern

times differing family values through its subtle imagery. Subtle imagery and how it has changed through

culture to reflect cultural norms can also be seen in another Reese ad when examining status symbols and

myths. Rabbits and the Easter bunny, eggs, and being placed in the spring are all based on the beginnings

of Easter as a pagan holiday for fertility but have become changed through diverse cultures to have

different meanings but the same imagery. In another fifteen-second Reese’s ad circa 2011 for their

chocolate eggs, subtle imagery leads back into the origins of Easter despite seemingly just being an ad for

the eggs. This subtle imagery is used throughout to convey fertility and rebirth going back to Easter’s

origins. This is also backed by the rabbit, music set to the mood, Reese’s peanut butter jar and the rabbit

creating the eggs, and the words “springtime is in the air.’

Consumer Indoctrination
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Consumers learned the behaviors expected behind Easter from an early age, most notably again

through the myth of the Easter bunny. The basis or moral is that young children are expected to be well

behaved lest risk not receiving a basket of toys and candy. Young consumers want to behave in a

societally acceptable way both at home and school by learning through operant conditioning. While some

children can be motivated by those around them to not act out by observation, as perhaps they want to

emulate a role model, most need some form of positive or negative reinforcement of said behaviors.

Nostalgia in marketing is a powerful tool to keep adult consumers who may not need to buy for

children. A Cadbury egg commercial has featured relatively the same plot each time its aired for years

and is a classic. Through the act of seeing the commercial episodic sensory memory of buying the egg

and then the sensory memory of eating the egg, the marketers behind the Cadbury bunny commercial

have mass amounts of people conditioned to do so.

Motivational Conflicts

A need can be defined as a basic biological motive. A want can be defined as a particular form of

consumption chosen to satisfy a desire. When making consumption decisions related to Easter, most

purchase decisions correlate with wants. Individuals need food, clothes, and shelter, but consumers

usually make decisions based on wants when buying for this specific holiday. According to USA Today,

Americans spend on average $152 per person on Easter. While the majority of consumer money is spent

on food, Americans also spend money on candy, clothes, décor, gifts, flowers and greeting cards, all

which represent purchases based on wants (Rossman, 2017). Moreover, consumer food purchases related

to the Easter holiday base off of consumer preferences for traditional or family meals and the food

purchases happen in copious quantities, which surpass the individuals’ needs. In this way, consumer

purchase decisions base on wants when buying for Easter.

Consumer wants in 2022 are significantly driven by social media. Not only are consumers

influenced by what other people post and buy during the holiday season, but they are also influenced by

all the holiday deals and sales related to this holiday which are marketed online. Marketers improve their

ability to reach consumer audiences every day. Through top-of-the-line analytics and different testing
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methods, marketers now have a better understanding of what makes a consumer act. Through sponsored

posts on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook, consumers can be influenced to buy Easter related

products and activities. The significance and influence of social media further demonstrate the dominance

of wants in consumer decisions related to the Easter holiday.

Consumer can experience motivational conflicts when making purchases for holidays. The

biggest motivational conflict relating to Easter is putting the focus on the religious background rather than

becoming distracted with the materialistic tendencies it now possesses. Parents continue to feel pressure

to make Easter a holiday for their children to remember, and not based on the religious beliefs or

traditions; décor needs to be in place, Easter baskets need to look fabulous and abundant, and the Easter

dresses and suits need to match. Finding the balance between the religious aspect of Easter and the

consumer aspect of Easter represents significant motivational conflict, specifically in regard to parents. In

addition, another motivational conflict comes from how other people perceives an individual’s holiday.

Again, social media can be a key factor as consumers share increasing amounts of their lives; for

example, Easter represents a natural holiday to share family activities and holiday photos. This sharing

causes materialistic pressure. The internet has allowed consumers to easily view what other people are

doing and, in relation to the holiday what other families and children are giving and receiving for Easter.

As parents always want to give their kids everything and more, competing between peers and social

pressures for materialistic perfection has increased in recent years. Observing what other consumer’s

Easter baskets look like, what festive feasts other consumers are making, and what Easter dress other

consumers plan to wear will cause pressures which will increase the materialistic focus on holiday

consumption. In this way, motivational conflicts exist within consumers in regard to holiday

consumption.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological motivational theory comprising a five-tier model

of human needs, frequently depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid (McLeod, 2018). The lower

needs of the pyramid need to be satisfied before the needs higher up can be attended.
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The first tier consists of “physiological needs” such as water, shelter, and food; these represent

the basic needs consumers must have to survive. The second tier of the pyramid is “safety needs'', which

addresses consumer needs for the comfort of safety and security. The layer of “safety needs,” along with

the next layer “belongingness and love,” can be linked to Easter consumption. For example, many

American families go to church on Easter morning; church represents a place where people go to feel

safe, comforted, and part of a community, surrounded by people that share the same beliefs and values.

Not only does this traditional Easter activity fulfill consumer religious beliefs and needs, but it also gives

people a sense of belonging. In regard to consumption, attending certain services or activities set in place

by the church can require or encourage tickets or donations, which increases the money spent on the

Easter holiday. The next tier on the pyramid consists of “esteem needs,” meaning individual prestige and

feeling of accomplishment, a need to feel good about oneself, and a need to meet expectations set by

oneself and others. A significant amount of the consumption occurs during the Easter holiday relating to

this need. This need, in addition, can relate back to the motivational conflicts for the Easter holiday.

Parents continue to feel pressure to make Easter a holiday for their children to remember; décor needs to

be in place, Easter baskets need to look fabulous and abundant, and the Easter dresses and suits need to

match. Parents and even younger consumers feel the need to create an extravagant and memorable

holiday experience which meets and exceeds the expectations of themselves, their family, and other

consumers. Each year, as consumer trends shift, media precise increases, and expectations continue to

rise, holiday consumption grows as individuals aim to out-do themselves and each other every year.

Finally, on the top of the pyramid is “self-actualization.” Self-actualization can be defined as achieving

one’s full potential, including creative activities. This is a need people strive for but find hard to fulfill.

Consumer decisions are significantly led by the need for self-actualization, as consumers recognize needs,

wants, or opportunities which can limit or lead them to achieving such fulfillment. Consumers’ continual

needs to improve, to achieve basic needs, to find belonging, to feel esteemed, and to become fulfilled can

be used to explain the reason for certain holiday consumption (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). 

Market and Internal Influences on Consumers

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Over the past thirteen years, the number of consumers planning to celebrate Easter has remained

steady. This year, eighty percent of consumers will celebrate Easter (Easter Data Center). Such a number

of consumers entails a diversity of Easter traditions, perceptions, and, subsequently, purchases. On

average, consumers plan to spend $169.79 on Easter gifts and celebrations in 2022. Furthermore, total

spending for the Easter holiday is expected to reach $20.8 billion (McGinty).

As society emerges from the solitude and caution of the pandemic, the meaning and activities of

the holidays begin to shift back to previous traditions, while adopting new customs as well. Top Easter

celebration plans in 2022 consist of cooking a holiday meal, as planned by 56% of consumers, visiting

family and friends in person, as planned by 51% of consumers, and going to church in person, as planned

by 37% of consumers. As seen in the graphical display of the data collected by the National Retail

Federation, the proportion of activities in-person versus virtually have shifted significantly over the past

three years (Easter Data Center). Given the current cultural context, consumers “are eager to return to

their pre-pandemic holiday traditions, particularly as it relates to purchasing food and gifts for in person

celebrations this Easter” (McGinty). The majority of these Easter purchases stem from the categories of

candy, food, gifts, clothing, and decorations. With a near ten percent increase in the number of consumers

planning to host in-person celebrations, retailers have observed an increase in the social purchases of the

holiday. Among the consumers planning to celebrate the Easter holiday, “the average spends $53.61 on

food, followed by $28.04 on gifts and $27.93 on clothing” (McGinty). In addition, consumers plan to

purchase flowers, decorations, greeting cards, and other holiday-related goods. In addition to the cultural

influences brought on by the pandemic, additional contextual influences affect the consumer’s purchase

patterns as well. The current inflation within the economy drives consumers to seek discount shopping,

hoping to find purchases which allow for the purchases which allow for the optimal value for the money

spent. According to survey research, 50% of consumers plan to purchase goods at discount stores, 41%

plan to purchase goods at department stores, and 35% plan to purchase goods from online retailers

(McGinty). However, in addition to the cultural context, demographics can influence consumer

purchasing patterns as well. 

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The National Retail Federation conducted survey research on consumer’s holiday celebration

plans. Based on the research conducted by the National Retail Federation, no significant differences

appear between the consumption plans of men and women, or by consumer region. However, observable

differences occur in the purchasing plans as segmented by age group (Easter Data Center). As age

increases, consumer plans to purchase products such as clothing, gifts, flowers, and decorations decrease.

Though the decrease in purchases could relate to the physical and social shopping limitations which

accompany an older age, it could be theorized that older individuals - grandmothers, grandfathers, older

mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles - attend holiday celebrations at residences other than their own;

therefore, purchases which relate to in-home decoration or activities may decrease. However, purchases

such as candy, food, and greeting cards remain constant in percent purchases in age. One reason may be

the relation to social celebration and non-religious traditions, such as purchasing candy for family or

purchasing food for family meals, which remain steady over age. Therefore, by segmenting consumers, it

can be observed that demographics may influence the consumer purchasing patterns for Easter. 

Consumer consumption can be influenced by internal factors as well. Internal factors that impact

the final choices of consumers consist of personality, motivation, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Aspects

such as an individual’s personality can determine how an individual responds to marketing messages and

can influence purchase decisions. Personality influences an individual’s values, styles, preferences for

activities of time consumption, and behaviors towards purchase environments. For example, individuals

with a feminine personality may be more likely to purchase styled decorations on Easter such as the pastel

painted eggs or colored flowers. In addition, an individual who’s personality centers on the values of

family and leisure time may be more likely to purchase Easter gifts such as games or family activities or

may spend more money on food to share with families. In relation to personal beliefs and values, religion

serves as a considerable influence in regard to the Easter holiday. As mentioned before, a motivational

conflict exits within the materialistic and religious focuses of Easter. An individual who values religion

and shares those beliefs may be more likely to purchase items which support such properties, while

spending less money on what would be considered frivolous, materialistic purchases. Lastly, individual
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motivations can influence purchase decisions. For example, an individual whose motivations center on

the need for uniqueness may be more likely to purchase products such as clothing and decorations,

whereas an individual whose motivations center on the need for affiliation may participate in activities

such as going out to brunch or attending Easter gatherings, which can influence purchase decisions. In

this way, internal influences can influence consumer holiday purchase decisions.

Despite the vast celebration of the Easter holiday, there exist individuals who do not plan to

celebrate the holiday; 20% of consumers do not plan on celebrating Easter this year. However, of those

not celebrating Easter, 52% still plan to shop Easter-related purchases. Those consumers will spend an

average of $18.49 on Easter-related products (McGinty). These products can consist of Easter-related

candy or food, and spring styled clothing. Such statistics demonstrate the vast reach of consumption

related to the Easter holiday. 

Social and Cultural Influences

There are many social and cultural factors that affect consumers when they go Easter shopping.

These can be from any number of things such as religion, economic class and family tradition. Firstly is

religion. While Easter is celebrated all over by many different religions, in the United States it is

primarily a Christian holiday and almost all of the different branches of Christianity fall under this. This

affects consumers in multiple ways; as it is a more Christian holiday, many more members of the religion

go out and do more shopping than non-Christians. These people use what they learn in church, their

family, and in the world to effect their purchases. Many of them buy certain foods, such as ham which is a

traditional Easter food and sales rise greatly around this time. This also affects their clothing purchases as

they may need different church or event clothes for this holiday as many more people attend religious

events for Easter than normal. Another way that consumer behavior is affected is by the difference in

economic class; as many people from various levels of society partake in Easter celebrations, it brings in

a huge range of consumers from high- and low-income classes. Typically the higher income spend more

and purchase more clothing and gifts than the lower income, along with the food and children's

celebration such as Easter egg hunting. Lastly, the biggest factor in affecting the consumer is family
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tradition. If the family typically does Easter egg hunts or sees the bunny or has ham then they are

incredibly more likely to increase their purchases of these things from year to year and this drives the

sales of eggs, dyes and ham up massively. To conclude, stores must look at and evaluate consumers'

antecedent states and their moods when thinking of shopping and while shopping. Stores will decorate

either the entire store or different sections to affect the consumers thoughts and put them into a good

mood and make a purchase. Many grocery stores and convenient stores will have decorated sections with

candy and colored eggs near the checkout to put people in a good mood and get them to buy something

before they leave. Stores look at many different metrics to try and bring in and entice people of different

antecedent states to increase sales.

Reference Groups

Reference groups can influence consumer decisions. The largest reference group that affects

consumers in regard to Easter are churches and religious groups. Since Easter is a heavily religious based

holiday, churches have a huge influence on how the consumers view the holiday and what they do. People

will partake in many pre-Easter activities and rituals and then, when Easter arrives, many will follow

whatever they have learned at church. One example of this is how churches have extra services right

before Easter and on the actual day and will talk and tell people things to do or participate in. Typically,

the information from these reference groups is informative as they are telling people things about the

religion and what happens or what can be done. When it comes to children, they are huge consumers for

Easter when it comes to the non-religious side of things. Social power plays a significant role in consumer

behavior on Easter because people listen to those above them. People like pastors, teachers and parents

have a massive impact on what people buy and how they look at the holiday as they pass the information

onto the younger people. This leads to those kids and young adults buying different things and requesting

new items that they have learned about or been told about through those reference groups.

Subcultural Components

There are lots of components that can affect consumer behavior like age, income, social class,

money personalities, and consumer confidence. These things affect consumer behavior by shaping how
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people think, act and shop. People are shaped by these different components, and it paves the way for

how they think and act and shop. Firstly is age, for Easter typically young kids are affected very heavily

because of the culture surrounding Easter. Young kids have a lot of things purchased for them, such as

candy and eggs and this affects the adults who are actually buying them. Next is income, people who

have a higher income can purchase more and are more relaxed when it comes to spending, so their

mindset is that they can purchase all the different things for Easter. Following this is money personalities,

these act similarly to the level of income and as well as consumer confidence. Consumer confidence

comes into play when people think about what they can spend. Typically, people who have more money

are more confident in their spending. In this way, subcultural components such as age, income, social

class, money personalities, and consumer confidence can affect consumer behavior

Status Symbols

Status symbols are a way to separate group members from non-group members in a social class.

Easter, as with all holidays in the modern wave of consumerism, has many status symbols related to its

place in society. As a child, it’s mainly an elaborate Easter basket filled with candy. Flaunting said basket

though can be taken to extremes with the 1 percent as with most times to gift give but even for the middle

class with some children receiving bikes or electronics instead of traditional toys and candy. Additional

gifts are given through Easter egg hunting, where gifts are given via plastic eggs such as small amounts of

money and pieces of candy such as jellybeans. Others choose to use real, colored eggs to hide but

generally as to not risk forgetting one egg most go with plastic. Such distinctions in the material aspects

of Easter can be considered status symbols.

The basis of the Easter bunny as a rabbit and its story is a common myth told to children and

perpetuates the ritual of gift-giving. While some parents may also provide a separate basket from

themselves, usually a child only gets one basket that is attributed to the Easter bunny. Additionally, a

common ritual in America is the annual White House Easter egg roll, which has begun in the 1870s as a

societal gathering. Showing you Easter best comes from events such as these as a way to show what one

could afford going back to symbols of status like before.

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Conclusion

The Easter holiday exists as a celebration of spring and new beginnings. As every holiday, the

Easter holiday leads to consumer purchases and consumption. As detailed throughout the exploration,

numerous aspects such as cultural and social influences, market contexts, reference groups and outside

influences, individual motivation and internal influences, and holiday history can impact consumer

purchase decisions. This exploration of Easter has allowed for the discovery of the more hidden aspect of

the holiday, such as the emerging materialistic focuses and the motivational conflicts consumers

experience. Though a familiar topic, the exploration of the holiday revealed numerous intricacies

regarding consumer purchase decisions and consumption influences not typically observed. The Easter

holiday evolved significantly over the past centuries from an unnamed celebration of rebirth, spring, and

new beginnings, to a Christian and Jewish holiday to emphasize the sects’ beliefs and histories, and now

to a commercialized celebration of both religious and non-religious traditions; in this way, the Easter

holiday will continue to evolve, both in societal meaning and operations, as consumer perceptions,

traditions, and values, as well as the economy, continue to develop and shift.
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