It may be time to check the assumption that Malaysian women expect their date to foot the Valentine’s Day bill, with a new survey revealing that a higher percentage of men themselves (74%) believe the man should pay than women do (64%). That’s just one of the interesting insights from a global Groupon survey on the Valentine’s Day attitudes and preferences of couples and singles alike.
Key findings below:
Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Rather than being seen as old fashioned, Valentine’s Day is still considered by Malaysians as a cause for celebration: 48% and 22%, respectively, say the occasion “shows my Valentine how much I care about them” and “is important to me.”
How to win at Valentine’s Day
- The traditional night out is alive and well in Malaysia – 40% cited “dinner in a nice restaurant” when asked for their idea of the perfect date. However, 14% answered “staying in for the night snuggled up on the sofa,” the highest of any country.
- When it comes to which cheesy pickup lines are best, 26% of Malaysian men picked “You’re so beautiful that you made me forget my pickup line”, with 19% of Malaysian women in agreement. “Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you, I smile” proved popular with both groups at 22% each.
How to say no
When the time comes to cancel on someone, only 37% of Malaysians would be honest and say they had changed their mind. The most popular excuse was “working late,” preferred by 20% of respondents.
Love counsel
When it comes to relationship advice, 47% of Malaysians rely on friends. 18% would opt for experience and seek out those who “have been a relationship for a long time.”
What happens if you forget the big day?
Not much, at least in Malaysia, where 64% said that if a partner neglected to get a gift or do something special “it wouldn’t matter, because every day is Valentine’s Day for us.” That’s the highest of any APAC country surveyed and second highest overall behind Spain.
Rafiq Razali, Country Manager at Groupon Malaysia, said: “Malaysians both care about Valentine’s Day and treat every day as a special and romantic one, as these survey results demonstrate. We wish everyone a special day, and we’ll continue to help with great offers not just on Valentine’s Day but 365 days a year.”
Data for the Groupon survey on the Valentine’s Day attitudes was collected from 20,694 respondents across 17 countries in APAC (Asia-Pacific), EMEA(Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Latin America. Of this, 1,921 respondents were from Malaysia. Surveys were sent electronically to subscribers of Groupon between 21-26 January 2015.