Your Heart Rules Your Head (And Your Shopping Cart)

Once officially declared by the Pope Gelasius I in 496, Valentine’s Day replaced its pagan predecessor—Lupercalia festival. Despite the long heritage, the common tradition of sending love cards is dated back to Great Britain and days much more present, circa the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Nowadays pop culture tends to depict Valentine’s Day as a cracking opportunity to confess love or even propose. But how relevant is the financial context of this lovebirds’ most important festival?

We’ve surveyed over 5,600 people from 32 different countries (including Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and both Americas) to find out about the local perception of Valentine’s Day. As the lovers festival of 14th February is banned in some countries due to religious reasons—i.e. Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia—we’ve decided to omit them in this particular study. Our report is a great source of information about lovebirds’ readiness to spend money, what are the most commonly chosen gifts and their costs, and eventually—whether reality does live up to recipients’ expectations.

Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong

First things first, according to our research Hong Kongers tend to enjoy Valentine’s Day. Exactly two thirds of them (66%). The others disregard any form of celebration. Having pointed that out, these results are most likely good news for all the restaurant owners—a romantic dinner is in fact the most popular forms of gift both in the eyes of Hong Kongese men (57%) and women (40%). Date in the cinema will also be popular among 29% of men and 24% of women. A more personalized approach in the form of a Valentine’s card will be chosen by more than one fifth of men (21%) and—surprisingly—only 16% of women. Electronic devices are amongst top female choices (12%) for their male soulmates too.

But what about the expectation itself? Which gifts would really win Hong Kongers’ hearts? A date in the restaurant is hands down the most preferable option both for male (54%) and female (61%) part of our respondents. As 35% of men would definitely prefer to hang out in the cinema/theater on the Valentine’s Day, women go for romantic old-school choices with flowers (27%), jewellery (25%), and handmade gifts (25%) occupying top of the ‘most desirable gifts’ list.

Be sure to avoid giving your beloved girlfriend cash—24% of women hate it. Want to spicy things up instead? Watch out—sex toys do not work (18% of women think that’s a terrible idea for a gift). Trying to impress men? Even though 54% of them admitted that a romantic dinner is surely their thing, at the same time almost half of them (46%) consider such activity as the worst gift possible! Additionally, think about ditching the cinema date (no-no for 27%) or a plush toy (19%) too.

Commonly singles are the most sceptical when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Although, when in comes to Hong Kongers staying in relationships our study shows that a quarter of men and one tenth of women claimed that they totally ignore Valentine’s.

And did you know that half of the Hong Kongese male population never received any Valentine’s Day gift? This happened only to 14% of women.

It’s the Thought that Counts

According to estimations, over a billion of cards is being sent on a Valentine’s Day, just a smidgen less that during Christmas time. Beginning of February is also quite hot period for shop owners. As Picodi internal data shows a pre-Valentine’s period is characterised by an average 37% surge in demand on “Jewellery” category, 38% on “Cosmetics & Perfumes” and 45% on “Adult”.

How much money is being spent on Valentine’s Day? Our survey revealed that Hong Kong citizen spends the most in the entire world—on average it’s a staggering value of HKD 1444 on his/her gifts. Curiously, men spend 29% more money comparing to women. When making worldwide comparisons, Hong Kongers declare the highest amount they are willing to spend on Valentine’s Day gifts, but are closely followed by people from China (USD155 on average) and the USA (USD147).

In almost every surveyed country—except Turkey, Vietnam and Nigeria—men try to impress women by spending more. Even though some researchers point out that a significant part of female population does not enjoy flowers, a nice bouquet is still 5th most popular Valentine’s Day gift in the world. Being sceptical or not, chocolate and perfume makers, restaurant and cinema owners are on top of the world during the first half of February.

Want to impress your date with a nice gift? Check out what Far East Flora, Swarovski and Chow Sang Sang have to offer! With Picodi you will be able to even get some of the money back through cashback and spend it however you want.

Methodology

We’ve conducted our surveys among over 5,600 people from Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe, Australia and Oceania—a total of 32 different countries and cultures, where the tradition of Valentine’s Day is present. A part of our report is also Picodi’s internal statistic data, with reference to transactions in online shops in countries, where Picodi.com operates. While making calculations we’ve used average currency exchange rates as of January 2018.

Sources

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-valentines-day-asia-test/forbidden-love-valentines-day-banned-for-some-in-asia-idUSKBN15T1R6
• http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day
• http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/valentines-day-half-of-women-disappointed-by-flowers-gifts-a6869666.html

Fair Use Statement

Your readers are interested in how Valentine’s Day effects global trade? Great! We are looking forward to see the results of our research shared for any non commercial purpose. In order to share the above results please ensure a link back to this very page and refer Picodi.com, so that your readers can enjoy the study in its entirety and our contributors earn the proper credit for their work.