Commemorative dates carry a story and sensitive meaning. However, people must pay attention to how the market uses these moments to turn all attention to sales. We can talk about several holidays. However, since we celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th, let’s think of this date as an example.
This holiday originated as a Western Christian feast day honoring Saint Valentinus. On the same day every year, Valentine’s Day is recognized as a celebration of romantic love worldwide. Nowadays, around half of Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day.
This holiday celebrates love. But mainly, lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. With that in mind, we can say it means it’s a “purchase holiday” right? Once for celebrating something, you have to buy something.
We can agree that it all revolves around a gift to be bought for a partner. Or a reservation to be made at a restaurant. And even a travel package. Thereby, the central point of commemorative dates generally ends up being profit.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with people buying a gift for someone on this holiday. After all, gift-giving is one love language. However, this article discusses how the main point of this holiday became sales and money.
Overall, the profit of the commemorative dates market is surprising. And the consumption behavior of people on these specific dates is really interesting. Let’s see some statistics.
Valentine’s Day & The Profit
This one is the most romantic holiday of the year. Moreover, it is a holiday where the consumer spends a lot. This type of holiday is significant for the economy.
According to marketing company Statista, the planned spending in the United States was expected to reach approximately 24 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. “This is an increase of about two billion dollars from 2021.”
A published note by D. Tighe from Statista says that “about 15 percent of surveyed Americans stated that the ideal Valentine’s Day gift to receive would be some sort of experience, an event or movie tickets. Another ten percent indicated that they would be happy to receive clothing.”
And what are people buying the most?
In recent years, Statista also showed that some of the more popular gifts or experiences to give someone special on Valentine’s Day in the United States were an evening out or jewelry.
“Other gifts commonly given and received included candy and flowers. When it comes to the gift recipient, the majority of spending was for the buyer’s significant other (or spouse), followed by other family members.”
A way that makes it all work is advertising. A date with the romance narrative will have the entire market turned to lovers.
Making Connections to Sell
We must understand that there is a relationship between sales and emotion from the market itself. Mother’s Day advertisements, for example. The advertising material is so sentimental that people feel the urge to buy the product as a gift. It actually works with many other holidays.
The point is that this market uses the discourse of affection and emotion to gain even more profit. It creates a personal narrative with the consumer. Not saying it is an issue, but it is extremely interesting, right?
The strong connection between sales and commemorative dates end up encouraging consumerism. This is because consumption, marketing and creativity can transform an idea into a product.
Take Christmas, for example. It has a deep meaning about religion for many people. But looking at the behavior of today’s society, this holiday was taken over by consumer culture.
The research done by Statista shows that in 2021, Christmas retail sales were forecast to grow to about 843.4 billion U.S. dollars. The amount of money that U.S. consumers plan to spend on gifts has fluctuated year to year. “This was given as a conservative value.”
This means that, above all, capital, sales and the market, in general, embrace personal relationships.
What is the focus of Valentine’s Day then?
Do we forget the true meaning of these holidays, or were they made for this anyways?
Despite everything, the world needs to show greater sensitivity to commemorative dates. There is a culture that makes you think you have to buy and spend money to celebrate something. This is the world we live in. But is it possible to think further?
For sure, the problem is not to buy. Perhaps the problem is not seeing that advertising and the market can completely change the reality and meanings of things.
It is not wrong to use emotion to create connections with the consumer. And not even make advertisements that directly affect the heart of the audience. What customers need to do is consider creating more critical thinking.
In short, this is a very important holiday for a culture. On one hand, the market appreciates the behavior of buying. On the other hand, the main focus of a commemorative date revolves around the purchase. It is a subject that presents several nuances. And also allow for many reflections.
