CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), which sold 30 million units for live events, tours and activities in 2017 including haunted houses, Halloween- and fall-related attractions, escape rooms and pumpkin patch experiences, found that most people have a stronger connection to the paranormal than one might think. The global marketplace surveyed 2,000 people about their favorite spooky fall holiday and found that more than 60 percent of people admit to having seen a ghost in their lifetime. In addition, more than 40 percent of those surveyed think their pet has seen one too.
“We know from experience that year after year people love to be scared and seek out as many frightful opportunities as possible this time of year,” said Brian Fields, head of things to do, Groupon. “If something scary isn’t for you or your children, carving a pumpkin, visiting an apple orchard or going on a hayride can also be great ways to celebrate Halloween with the entire family.”
One of the biggest ways that people like to scare themselves during the month of October is by visiting a haunted house. The survey––conducted by market researchers OnePoll and commissioned by Groupon––found that when visiting one of these attractions, people become frightened in less than five seconds, which is surprising since one out of three people said they’ve lived or stayed somewhere haunted in their lifetime.
The top 10 fears identified by survey respondents included: snakes, spiders, sharks, drowning, heights, public speaking, failure, bees, cramped spaces and rejection. Even though snakes ranked higher than bees on the list of fears, by a more than two-to-one margin people said they’d rather have snakes slither all over them than be surrounded by a swarm of bees.
How do most people react when they’ve seen a ghost? Of those who have been visited by a see-through spirit, the top responses were to scream and run away. Men were twice as likely than women to scream and run away when they saw a ghost. Other initial responses to seeing a ghost included crying, hiding and fainting.
While men are more likely to scream and run away at the sight of a ghost, their screams are probably less audible than women’s screams. Participants were asked to rate the decibel level of their screams on a sound scale ranging from a leaf falling to the ground to a rocket being launched. Men rated their screams to the equivalent of a vacuum cleaner, and women said that when they shriek it sounds like a noisy restaurant.
Whether you’re interested in screaming like a rocket, leaf, vacuum cleaner or a noisy restaurant, Groupon has you covered this fall with a number of amazing Halloween- and fall-related experiences and costumes, including:
Finally, if you’re looking for the perfect pumpkin to carve this year, the best size identified by participants for this purpose was approximately 15 pounds. Although, people said that the quality of the pumpkin was more important than the size.
About Groupon
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is building the daily habit in local commerce, offering a vast mobile and online marketplace where people discover and save on amazing things to do, see, eat and buy. By enabling real-time commerce across local businesses, travel destinations, consumer products and live events, shoppers can find the best a city has to offer.
Groupon is redefining how small businesses attract and retain customers by providing them with customizable and scalable marketing tools and services to profitably grow their businesses.
To download Groupon's top-rated mobile apps, visit www.groupon.com/mobile. To search for great deals or subscribe to Groupon emails, visit www.groupon.com. To learn more about the company’s merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit www.groupon.com/merchant.