Efforts to spread holiday cheer often begin with food, decorations, festivities and an increase in consumers’ spending. Specifically, consumers are expected to spend over $6.9 billion this year on Halloween alone.

Ernest Baskin, Ph.D., assistant professor of food marketing, explains why pumpkin-flavored everything and Halloween-themed goodies continue to fly off the shelves.

“Holiday-themed flavors show that a company is responsive to the marketplace and is in touch with what is on consumers’ minds,” says Baskin. “Many consumers go to stores specifically looking for holiday related products and holiday-themed flavors help fill this need.”

Baskin highlights how companies use this strategy as a means to uniquely promote their own take on the holiday and profit most from consumers in favor of a specific brand.

“Consumers make their purchases based on habit. They may also make purchases based on promotions advertised in the marketplace. That being said, the most successful brands answer the question of why the consumer should purchase their brand right at that moment,” he says. “Scarcity, specialty flavors and promotions remain some of the most important factors in consumer decision-making.”

The holiday season increases consumers’ desire for specialty foods as a way of obtaining affordable luxuries, however, it is ultimately up to the company to seal the deal.

Baskin adds, “Consumers often choose a few categories of products in which they ‘trade up.’ Specialty products offer that ‘trading up’ opportunity but it is still up to them to convince the average consumer that they should spend more in their particular category.”