There is no one right way to eat a pie. Especially as the holidays approach, pies will likely be top of mind–or front of plate–for many Americans. And while the strong majority (82%) of those who eat pie say they prefer ice cream or whipped cream to top off their pie, 18% prefer no cream, just pie.
Those who opt for just the pie skew female and Gen Z. They also are most likely to be middle-income ($50K-$100K) earners. However, these basic demographic details fall short of painting the full picture of what these particular pie eaters are like, beyond the limit of the dessert plate.
Dig into the facts about plain pie eaters, below:
Dessert Frequency: Americans who prefer to eat their pie plain without any topping outpace those with other pie preferences in reporting they eat dessert several times per week by at least nine percentage points.
TV Time: Those who prefer just pie without cream are moderate TV watchers. Thirty-six percent watch TV for 1-2 hours a day. In contrast, just 25% of those who prefer ice cream with their pie watch the same amount of TV.
Text Messaging: Over one in three respondents who prefer just pie, no cream (34%) say they communicate most with friends and family through mobile messaging apps. Just 15% of those who like ice cream with their pie–the second runner up–say the same.
Library Visits: While 40% of those who prefer just pie, no cream, go to their local library at least once a year, just 27% of those who prefer ice cream on their pie say the same.
Buy Now, Pay Later: Nearly half of those who opt for just pie, no cream (46%) have used ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ programs, outpacing all other answer categories by at least 13 percentage points.
Despite the popularity of ice cream and whipped cream to top off a pie, those who prefer their pie plain are a solid group of eaters who aren’t afraid to stray from the pack and enjoy their dessert, their way.
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This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.