What Men and Women Expect on Valentine’s Day, According to Data

Valentine’s Day (February 14) is widely celebrated across many countries as a day for expressing romantic love and appreciation through cards, flowers, dinners, chocolates, and other gifts.

While gifting occurs among people of all genders, both international studies and local Kenyan surveys show clear patterns in who gives what and what men receive compared to women.

1. Global Valentine’s Day Gifting Trends

International survey data shows that the most common types of Valentine’s Day gifts include chocolates or candy, flowers, fragrance/perfume, wine or liquor, and fashion accessories or jewelry.

These categories dominate consumer purchases for the holiday.

However, there are gender differences in gifting behavior:

Globally, men are more likely to give flowers to their romantic partners than women. In one multinational poll, 42 % of men reported planning to give flowers compared with 15 % of women.

Men are also somewhat more likely to give fragrance and equally likely to give sweets compared with women in those surveys.

Consumer spending data from retail studies also indicates that men typically spend more on Valentine’s Day gifts than women.

In one report, average male spending on Valentine’s was significantly higher than female spending, particularly on premium items such as jewelry and flowers.

2. What Men Receive on Valentine’s Day (Global Context)

Survey research from YouGov indicates differences in what men report wanting to receive versus what women want:

The top gift preference reported by men was a card (27 %), followed by a nice dinner out (23 %).

Nearly one-fifth of men (around 22 %) indicated that sexual intimacy was something they would value as a Valentine’s gift.

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In contrast, women more frequently selected flowers, chocolates, and dinners as preferred gifts.

A notable segment of both genders also reported that they would prefer not to receive a gift at all — about one in five men and slightly fewer women.

These statistics show that while gifts do change between genders, traditional items like flowers and chocolates are less frequently cited as primary desired gifts by men compared with women.

3. Valentine’s Day Gift Patterns in Kenya

Specific Kenyan data reflects some regional patterns of gifting and expectations around Valentine’s Day:

According to an Ipsos-Synovate survey in Kenya, 41 % of Kenyan men planned to buy flowers for their Valentine, and other common gifts included clothing (28 %) and dinner outings (11 %).

In the same Kenyan study, women reportedly expected gifts such as clothes and roses, as well as chocolates, dinners, travel, perfume, handbags, shoes, and jewelry.

4. Gender Imbalance in Gifting: What the Data Shows

Across multiple surveys:

Men tend to be the primary gift buyers for romantic partners. Men purchase the majority of Valentine’s Day flowers in the U.S. and other markets, with estimates around more than 80 % of flower purchases for romantic partners made by men.

Women receive the majority of traditional Valentine’s gifts, such as roses and chocolates, in heterosexual relationships.

Multiple consumer spending reports reflect that flowers and romantic products are disproportionately presented to women.

In Kenya, women also tend to expect Valentine’s gifts such as clothes, roses, and other items more frequently than men receive them.

5. Summary of Factual Findings

From the available research:

Men are more likely to purchase Valentine’s gifts for romantic partners than women in many countries.

Traditional romantic gifts (flowers, chocolates, jewelry) are more often given to women than to men.

In Kenya, studies show that Kenyan men give common gifts such as flowers and clothes, while women’s expectations extend to a wider range of items.

Collectively, these documented patterns illustrate a gender imbalance where men are typically the purchasers and women more frequently the recipients of Valentine’s Day gifts, although men do receive gifts in some contexts.