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Stevens, PA January 28, 2004— St. Valentine's Day, February 14, will be celebrated with cards, gifts and other remembrances. Originally a pagan Roman festival, it was adapted by the Christian church and linked to St. Valentine, a third century martyr. Today this traditional lovers' holiday has been transformed into a "gifting" holiday, celebrated not just between paramours but among friends, family and loved ones.

In new research, Unity Marketing found that seventy percent of gift-givers honor Valentine's Day by giving a present. Those who celebrate spend on average $126, buying 2.4 gifts. Out of the seven major gifting holidays, Valentines Day is the third most widely gifted holiday, after Christmas (96 percent) and Mother's Day (74 percent).

"For retailers and marketers Valentine's Day is a welcome mid-winter sales boost," says luxury marketing expert Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Why People Buy Things They Don't Need. "But the year-round gift marketing opportunity is often overlooked."

"Gifting holidays account for just over half of the gifters" $2,062 budgets, leaving the rest available throughout the year for occasion-driven gift giving—birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, housewarming and new babies.

"Gifting represents a rare exponential marketing opportunity where you can touch two target markets directly: the gift buyer and the recipient. For retailers, gifting has the advantages and promotional marketing power of sampling and word-of-mouth, but it magnifies and intensifies that power. Retailers need a gifting strategy that takes advantage of its full relationship potential, not just for holidays, but throughout the year as well."

Key findings about Valentine's Day gift-giving, based on a survey of 950 gift givers who spent over $250 throughout the year, not just at Christmas, include:

Valentine's Day goes gender-neutral

Women are as likely to give Valentine's Day gifts as men—68 percent of women and 72 percent of men buy presents. Women gifters buy more Valentine's Day gifts (2.7 on average) than men (2.2 presents). Because of this, retailers need to merchandise gift items that are suitable for both genders to give and receive. Men still spend more on Valentine's Day gifts, averaging $171 buying presents, compared with $78 spent by women.

More Valentine's Day gifting goes on among the young

"A heart that loves is always young,"but in the case of Valentine's Day gifting, the youthful take the lead. So while 85 percent of millennial generation adults (born from 1977 to 1985) bought a Valentine's Day gift last year, only 76 percent of genXers (1965-1976) and 68 percent of baby boomers (1946-1964) did. The young also spend more on Valentine's gifts, average $142 among millennials, compared with $122 among genXers and $114 among boomers.

Families with children are more attuned to Valentine's Day gifting

Households with children under 18 years are more likely to celebrate Valentine's Day with a gift (78 percent) as those without children (68 percent). Households with children spend more and give more individual gifts.

Flowers and plants, candles, and jewelry and watches top the list of popular gifts

Among the 15 popular giftware items surveyed, the top gifts among Valentine's Day gifters are flowers and plants (56 percent); candles and accessories (53 percent); and jewelry and watches (50 percent), followed by plush or stuffed animals (41 percent).

This new study, Gifting Report: The Who, What, Where, How Much and Why of Gift Giving & Shopping, presents an experiential research perspective of the gifting market. Combining qualitative and quantitative research, it reveals gift giving incidence and spending throughout the whole year, including seven major gifting holidays and 12 gifting occasions (e.g. birthdays, anniversary, wedding, friendship, etc.). The key attributes of a good gift are presented, as are the types of stores where gifters prefer to shop and why. How people choose across the wide range of gifting options is explored, including gift certificates and cash, home furnishings, entertainment, apparel, gifts of experience, etc. Finally the personalities of three types of gift givers with different gift giving and buying motivations are explored

About Unity Marketing
Founded in 1992 , Unity Marketing is a market research and consulting firm that specializes in consumer insights for luxury marketers. Using its proprietary 'why people buy' research strategy, Pam Danziger, company founder and author of Why People Buy Things They Don't Need (Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing, 2002) uncovers the motivations, desires and emotional needs that drive consumers to buy. Unity also publishes market research studies on the luxury market, art, jewelry, garden, home furnishings, gifts and collectibles, personal care and cosmetics markets, as well as the Luxury Business newsletter. Pam is currently working on her new book, Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses (as well as the Classes), to be published in early 2004.

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