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Other than schoolchildren, who is most likely to celebrate the Hallmark holiday of love? A bare majority of Americans participate in Valentine’s Day, making just about every other holiday more popular. Unsurprisingly, it’s a moment more for singles looking to impress their dates. Still, it’s big business in America.
65% of married people will be celebrating.
84% of unmarried people will be.
1 in 5 have no plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day at all.
$18.6 billion is spent in total.
The gifts
What do people get for their sweethearts? The day typically does not involve a big demonstration:
2% say they plan to give the gift of jewelry.
6% are planning a getaway weekend.
10% will buy chocolates.
15% will buy flowers.
The most common plans:
41% plan to exchange cards.
38% are going out to dinner.
The Economy
The slowly recovering economy is still putting a damper on the holiday:
55% say it has affected how much they spend on their sweeties.
$130.97 is the average amount Americans are predicted to spend, up slightly from $126.03 last year.
At the height of the recession, Valentine’s proved particularly vulnerable. Spending dipped for the 2009 holiday — only slightly, and not surprisingly, since it was the first Valentine’s of the recession:
$100 is the average amount Americans spent on loved ones in 2009 — down from the previous two years’ $120 average, but about the same as the three years prior.
Consumer attitudes
Experts who have studied consumer attitudes toward Valentine’s Day say 7a reassessment of the holiday is forcing it back to its modern roots. In the mid-1800s, Valentine’s Day was reborn as an intimate card-giving occasion but grew into the most-marketed holiday after Christmas. In the current economic climate, many just say it comes as a great relief not to have to produce a material manifestation of an intangible emotion.
Sources: National Retail Federation, New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Time, BIGresearch, MillionaireCorner.com, PriceGrabber