Numerator: Consumers Ready for More Celebrations in 2024

In a study on consumer feelings about holiday occasions, Numerator has determined that more people are ready to celebrate in 2024.

Other findings include:

• Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve had the biggest increases, up four points each, followed by Independence Day, up three points. 
• Top celebrated holidays are Christmas, at a 92% intention to celebrate, then Thanksgiving, at 89%, Mother’s Day, at 74%, Easter, at 69%, and Independence Day, at 68%. 
• The holidays that are most often planned one to three months in advance are Christmas, at 77%; Halloween, at 58%; Hanukkah, at 53%; and Thanksgiving, at 44%.
• The most spontaneous holidays, those only planned one to two days in advance, are Cinco de Mayo, at 38%, and St. Patrick’s Day, at 32%. 
• The top holidays for gathering with friends and family are Christmas, at a 62% intention, Thanksgiving, at 62%, Easter, at 60%, Hanukkah, at 58%, New Year’s Eve, at 54%, and Independence Day, at 54%. 
• The holidays focused on cooking or baking at home include Thanksgiving, for 47% of celebrators, Christmas for 44%, Hanukkah for 40%, and Easter for 40%. 
• The holidays where going out to eat is much more popular include Valentine’s Day, for 39% of celebrators, Cinco de Mayo, for 37%, Mother’s Day, for 36%, and Father’s Day, for 32%. 
• Ordering food for takeout or delivery is most popular on New Year’s Eve, for 15% of celebrators.
• Food is the most popular item consumers say they’ll purchase for 10 out of 14 key holidays, with Labor Day, at 83%, and Thanksgiving, at 81%, seeing the highest intent to purchase. 
• More celebrators said they would purchase alcohol on the occasions of Cinco de Mayo, at 59%, and New Year’s Eve, at 53%, than the others.

Across holidays, an average of 45% of consumers say they’ll gather with others to celebrate, up from 42% in 2023.