S’poreans are third biggest V-Day spenders in Asia Pacific: Study

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans spent an average of S$263 on Valentine’s Day gifts for their loved ones over the past three years, making them the third biggest spenders on the holiday in the Asia Pacific. Only lovebirds in Hong Kong — who spent S$338 — and in China — who spent S$332 — spent more.

These figures, released today (Feb 11), were derived from a global study dubbed the MasterCard Love Index. The study surveyed 8,779 people from 17 markets across the Asia Pacific on their spending plans for Valentine’s Day this year. Of these, 447 respondents were from Singapore. The study also analysed transactions made with various MasterCard credit, debit and pre-pay cards between 2013 and 2015 to determine previous spending trends.

Despite their seeming willingness to spend big on the Feb 14 holiday, only 58 per cent of people in Singapore plan to buy a gift this Valentine’s Day, which falls on Sunday. This figure is lower than those from China and Hong Kong, where 72 per cent and 65 per cent of respondents said they had plans to buy a gift respectively.

The holiday is most popular in Thailand, where 79 per cent of respondents planned to buy a gift, and least popular in Sri Lanka, where just 9 per cent of respondents said they had such plans.

Flowers remain a favourite gift across the region, but the study found that respondents spent more money on experiences than actual material items. For example, 36 per cent of money spent on Valentine’s Day over the past three years went to hotels and 24 per cent to restaurants. In comparison, just 2 per cent of money spent was used to purchase flowers.

This year, six in 10 Singaporean respondents plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day by dining out, while three in 10 plan to catch a show at the cinema or theatre.

Despite the day’s romantic nature, just over one in three respondents in Singapore believe that Feb 14 is the best day to receive or make a marriage proposal. In comparison, seven in 10 respondents in China and Vietnam said that the day would be an ideal one to pop the question. ASHUTOSH RAVIKRISHNAN