A third (34%) of Irish consumers have been to a festival that involved camping, according to the latest Consumer Insights survey by Empathy Research. Of 981 survey respondents, this was driven mostly by those under 45 years of age; 18-24 (43%), 25-34 (46%), 35-44 (42%), and much less popular with those aged 45+ years (22%). Gender-wise, slightly more men (37%) than women (31%) had attended a festival with camping at some stage.
Of those who have attended festivals, the majority (81%) bought their pre-festival necessities from supermarkets, however more women (84%) than men (77%) said they’d buy from a supermarket, as did the 25-34 year olds age group (85%). Meanwhile, 90% of festival attendees living in the Rest of Leinster prepare for festivals by shopping in supermarkets which was significantly higher than all the other regions; Dublin (78%), Munster (77%) and Connacht/Ulster (78%).
A very small minority (8%) of festival attendees wait until they are at a festival to buy their camping necessities. The younger the age group, the more likely they were to wait to buy their festival necessities, with 11% of the 18-24 and 12% of the 25-34 year olds buying them at the festival, as opposed to 6% of the 35-44 and 5% of the 45+ year olds.
When asked what the most important item to bring to a festival, 45% agreed that toiletries such as toilet paper, hand wipes etc. were critical to their festival experience, which was driven by the 25-34 (48%) and 35-44 (55%) year olds and less important amongst 18-24 (37%) and 45+ (39%) year olds. Perhaps unsurprisingly, significantly more women (61%) were also of this opinion compared to men (32%).
The next most important item to 22% of the survey respondents was wet gear, which is to be expected given the inclement weather in Ireland. More male respondents than female respondents felt wet gear was of importance to their festival experience (29% vs. 15%). In addition, participants with children (28% vs. 18% without children) felt wet gear was a necessity.
A small number of festival attendees (18%) felt that alcohol was the most important item to bring to a festival, with nearly a quarter of men (24%), but only 12% of women thinking it is a must-bring item. Age-wise alcohol was considered most important amongst 18-24 year olds (42%) compared to all the other age groups; 25-34 (20%), 35-44 (13%) and 45+ (9%).
Meanwhile, more than a quarter (27%) of Irish consumers plan on attending at least one festival this year, highest in the 18-24 (42%) and 25-34 (35%) year olds categories, and less popular amongst 35-44 (29%) and 45+ (18%) year olds. Almost a third (31%) of respondents with no children mentioned they plan to attend a festival this year which was marginally higher compared to participants with children (23%).
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
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