Table of Contents
Scope and Themes
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- What you need to know
- Data sources
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Advertising creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Executive Summary
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- Sales in most categories of character merchandise down in 2010
- Character-branded personal care products sales increased in 2010
- Most Americans buy at least some character merchandise
- Most character merchandise purchased in discount channels
- Increased regulation could be undermining growth of food sales
- SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer most popular characters
- Yet parents somewhat more likely to favor classic characters
- Food and snacks, clothing, and paper products most popular categories
- Blacks more likely to have purchased most types of character merchandise
Insights and Opportunities
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- Show parents how characters can be used to teach kids good habits
- Develop educational materials than can be used by schools and parents
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- Figure 1: Team Umizoomi preschool math kit, November 2011
- Consider letting kids and parents customize characters using online tools
Inspire Insights
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- Trend: Edutainment
- Trend: Non-Standard Society
Market Size and Segmentation
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- Key points
- 2010 sales declined as many continued to embrace frugality
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- Figure 2: Retail sales of licensed merchandise, by product category, 2009-10
- With few exceptions, sales decline across majority of property types
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- Figure 3: Retail sales of licensed merchandise, by property type, 2009-10
- Declines in character merchandise sales consistent with overall declines
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- Figure 4: Retail sales of entertainment/character-based merchandise, by product category, 2009-10
Channel Analysis
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- Sales declines may be due in part to pricing pressure at mass
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- Figure 5: Retail sales of licensed entertainment/character merchandise, by distribution channel, 2010
- Declines in Disney Store visits correlates with recession
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- Figure 6: Kids 6-12 Disney Store past month visit and favorite store, January 2006-December 2010
Industry Challenges
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- Legal issues and licensing rights
- Effectiveness of characters in marketing toward children invites scrutiny
- Regulators often focus on food and beverage marketing
- Declining median household income likely dampening sales
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- Figure 7: Median household income in inflation-adjusted dollars, 2000-10
Market Drivers
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- Key points
- Growth of 6-11 segment should help to drive sales
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- Figure 8: Population, by relevant age groups, 2006-16
- Minorities particularly important to character merchandisers
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- Figure 9: Population by race and Hispanic origin, 2006-16
- Minorities more likely to have kids than whites
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- Figure 10: Households, by race of householder and presence and ages of children, 2010
- Hispanics and Asian segments likely to play a key role in driving future sales growth
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- Figure 11: Hispanic population, by relevant age groups, 2006-16
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- Figure 12: Asian population, by relevant age groups, 2006-16
- Box office slump may also be linked to sales declines
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- Figure 13: Top Grossing movies of 2011 (Jan. 3, 2011 through Nov. 29, 2011)
Leading Companies
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- Disney/Pixar
- Nickelodeon
- Warner Brothers
- Hasbro
Innovations and Innovators
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- Hasbro and the Hub
- Marvel clothing line
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- Figure 14: Aeropostale Spider-Man hooded sweatshirt, November 2011
- Green Lantern: ties to toys, snacks, QSRs, and theme parks
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- Figure 15: Green Lantern roller coaster logo, November 2011
- Spider-Man on Broadway
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- Figure 16: Spider-Man turn off the dark poster, November 2011
- Disney/Pixar Cars merchandising success
- SpongeBob SquarePants is everywhere
- SpongeBob characters at the forefront of trends
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- Figure 17: SpongeBob SquarePants SillyBandz, November 2011
- Characters licensed for video game development
- Food and personal care products bear likeness
- Dora the Explorer sales similar to SpongeBob
- Dora merchandise covers gamut of product targeted toward kids
- Better-for-you foods using characters appeal to parents and kids alike
- Harry Potter
- Burger King “King”
Television Advertising
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- Use of characters in television advertisements
- Farmers Insurance uses characters to capture the attention of adults
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- Figure 18: Farmers Insurance Group, X-Men First Class television ad, 2011
- Dunkin’ Donuts uses Captain America to frame the brand as all-American
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- Figure 19: Dunkin’ Donuts, Captain America television ad, 2011
- McDonald’s leverages Kung- Fu Panda 2 to promote happy meals
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- Figure 20: McDonald's, Kung Fu Panda television ad, 2011
- Yoplait uses Cars characters and game to make Go-Gurt fun
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- Figure 21: Yoplait Go-Gurt, Cars television ad, 2011
- Bel Furniture uses characters to attract parents and kids
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- Figure 22: Bel Furniture, SpongeBob SquarePants television ad, 2011
Favorite Characters
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- Key points
- SpongeBob SquarePants remains most popular character among children
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- Figure 23: Favorite character and youngest child’s favorite character, August 2011
- Disney characters especially popular with women
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- Figure 24: Favorite character, by gender, August 2011
- SpongeBob popularity increases with age, Dora peaks younger
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- Figure 25: Youngest child’s favorite character-part 1, by children’s ages, August 2011
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- Figure 26: Youngest child’s favorite character-part 2, by children’s ages, August 2011
- Younger children prefer characters on clothing
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- Figure 27: Images children aged 6-12 years like on clothing, by gender and age of child, May 2011
Influence of Characters on Purchase Behavior
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- Key points
- Those with more children in the home buy more character products
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- Figure 28: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by presence and number of children in household, August 2011
- Parents of younger children most likely to buy character merchandise
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- Figure 29: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
Purchases for Children
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- Key points
- Parents prefer to buy classic character merchandise over contemporary
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- Figure 30: Character merchandise purchases for children, by number of children in household, August 2011
- Parents of older children most interested in contemporary characters
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- Figure 31: Character merchandise purchases for children, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
Perceptions of Children’s Attitudes Toward Character Merchandising
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- Key points
- Children are more likely to use character merchandise
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- Figure 32: Parents’ perception of their children’s attitudes toward character merchandise, August 2011
- Parents of three or more report children prefer character merchandise
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- Figure 33: Parents’ perception of their children’s attitudes toward character merchandise, by number of children in household, August 2011
- Older children have strongest preference for character merchandise
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- Figure 34: Parent’s perception of their children’s attitudes toward character merchandise, by children’s ages, August 2011
Attitudes Toward Character Merchandising and Children
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- Key points
- Slightly more than half of adults find the use of characters to be exploitive
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- Figure 35: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, August 2011
- 25-34 year olds least likely to see character merchandising as exploitive
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- Figure 36: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by age, August 2011
- Parents are less likely to see using characters as exploitive
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- Figure 37: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by parental status, August 2011
- Parents of children across ages find many characters too adult-like
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- Figure 38: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
Attitudes Toward Character Merchandising
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- Key points
- Many feel products with characters are overpriced
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- Figure 39: Attitudes toward character merchandising, August 2011
- Women are more likely to notice a character before the product
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- Figure 40: Attitudes toward character merchandising, by gender, August 2011
- Parents more likely to be reminded of childhood by character products
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- Figure 41: Attitudes toward character merchandising, by parental status, August 2011
Character Merchandise Purchase Categories and Recipients
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- Key points
- Most character merchandise purchases are for children
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- Figure 42: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, bought for whom? August 2011
- Any purchase reason
- Women are more likely to purchase character merchandise
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- Figure 43: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- 25-34 year olds generally most likely to buy character merchandise
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- Figure 44: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
- Parents of young children more likely to buy clothes and décor
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- Figure 45: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Purchased for self
- Men more likely to have purchased character merchandise for self
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- Figure 46: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- Those without children or with only one more likely to buy for self
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- Figure 47: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by presence and number of children in household, August 2011
- Parents of older children more likely to buy character merchandise
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- Figure 48: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Purchased for children younger than 12
- Parents of younger children more likely to buy character clothing
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- Figure 49: Types of character merchandise purchased for children younger than 12 in the past 12 months, by children’s ages, August 2011
- Purchased as a gift
- Women more likely to buy character merchandise as a gift
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- Figure 50: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- 45-54 year olds most likely to buy character paper goods as gifts
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- Figure 51: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
- Those with a single child in the household most likely to buy character products as gifts
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- Figure 52: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by presence and number of children in household, August 2011
Character Merchandise Category Purchase Details
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- Key points
- Food and snacks
- Parents of younger children most likely to buy character fast food
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- Figure 53: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Men more likely than women to buy food and snacks with characters
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- Figure 54: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- Clothing
- Parents of younger children most likely to buy character-branded clothing
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- Figure 55: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Most character clothes bought for children, though many buy for self
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- Figure 56: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- Parents more likely to buy character clothing, especially T-shirts
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- Figure 57: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status, August 2011
- Paper goods and supplies
- Parents of older children are more likely to buy character paper goods
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- Figure 58: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Women more likely than men to purchase paper goods with characters
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- Figure 59: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- Toys and games
- Parents of younger children most likely to buy character soft toys
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- Figure 60: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Personal care products
- Personal care products most often purchased for young children
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- Figure 61: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
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- Figure 62: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
- Household décor
- Parents of younger children most likely to buy character-branded linens
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- Figure 63: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
Impact of Race and Hispanic Origin
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- Key points
- White respondents are least likely to purchase character merchandise
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- Figure 64: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Black respondents among most likely purchasers of most categories
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- Figure 65: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Black respondents most likely to have purchased character merchandise for self
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- Figure 66: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Blacks are the biggest purchasers of character food/snacks
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- Figure 67: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Blacks and Hispanics most likely to buy character clothing
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- Figure 68: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Whites more likely than blacks to purchase paper goods
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- Figure 69: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
Appendix—Other Useful Consumer Tables
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- Influence of characters on purchase behavior
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- Figure 70: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 71: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 72: Character merchandise purchases compared to last year, by parental status, August 2011
- Purchases for children
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- Figure 73: Character merchandise purchases for children, by gender, August 2011
- Perceptions of children’s attitudes toward character merchandising
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- Figure 74: Parents’ perception of their children’s attitudes toward character merchandise, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 75: Parents’ perception of their children’s attitudes toward character merchandise, by Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Attitudes toward character merchandising and children
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- Figure 76: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 77: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 78: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by marital status, August 2011
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- Figure 79: Attitudes toward character merchandising and children, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Attitudes toward character merchandising
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- Figure 80: Attitudes toward character merchandising, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
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- Figure 81: Attitudes toward character merchandising, by marital status, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase categories, any purchase reason
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- Figure 82: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 83: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 84: Types of character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by marital status, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase categories, purchased for self
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- Figure 85: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 86: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 87: Types of character merchandise purchased for self in the past 12 months, by marital status, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase categories, purchased as a gift
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- Figure 88: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 89: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by marital status, August 2011
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- Figure 90: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
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- Figure 91: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by parental status, August 2011
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- Figure 92: Types of character merchandise purchased as a gift in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase categories, categories not purchased
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- Figure 93: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 94: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 95: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 96: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
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- Figure 97: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by marital status, August 2011
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- Figure 98: Types of character merchandise not purchased in the past 12 months, by parental status and children’s ages, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, food and snacks
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- Figure 99: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 100: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 101: Food/snack product character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, clothing
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- Figure 102: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 103: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 104: Clothing character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, paper goods and supplies
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- Figure 106: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 107: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 108: Paper goods/supplies products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, toys and games
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- Figure 109: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 110: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 111: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 112: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 113: Toys/games character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, personal care products
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- Figure 114: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 115: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 116: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 117: Personal care products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, household décor
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- Figure 118: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 119: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 120: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 121: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 122: Household décor products character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
- Character merchandise purchase specifics, other items
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- Figure 123: Other character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, August 2011
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- Figure 124: Other character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by gender, August 2011
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- Figure 125: Other character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by age, August 2011
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- Figure 126: Other character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by household income, August 2011
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- Figure 127: Other character merchandise purchased in the past 12 months, by race/Hispanic origin, August 2011
Appendix—Trade Associations
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