Valentine's Day: The Hallmark Holiday
Valentine's Day. A day of associated with chocolate, roses and giant oversized teddy bears. While of course, Valentine's Day has its history that originates from Saint Valentine, it could also be said that Valentine's Day is under the category of "Hallmark Holiday".A Hallmark Holiday is essentially a holiday that exists primarily for commercial purposes. In 2016, it was estimated that Americans would spend 19.7 billion dollars on Valentine's Day. Not to mention, 1.1 billion would be spent on cards alone. While to some, Valentine's Day might be considered a Hallmark Holiday, Hallmark is not the only company to take advantage of the gains that could be made on the day. For example, the Kiss. Though Hershey's Kisses were not produced as a result of Valentine's Day, the candy quickly rose to popularity on the special day. It was actually surveyed that consumers tended to automatically associate "kiss" with Hershey's distinct candy. Going back to Hallmark, in this ad, Hallmark has successfully forced their future consumers to associate Valentine's Day with the Hallmark brand. Not to mention, the commercial's choice to use children can create a sense of obligation in younger viewers which then perpetuate the stereotypical standards that surround the holiday.
Finally, it's important to mention that while Valentine's Day might be helping Hallmark make millions, it isn't just Hallmark's marketing choices that make them money. According to behavioral economist Dan Ariely, it becomes difficult for people to not get caught up in the behavior they are witnessing around them. People spending money on chocolates and flowers for their significant other impacts those around them. Ariely adds that "Herds give us a sense of what is normative behavior — not normative in terms of rational, but normative in terms of this is how people behave".
So to close, Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday that for the most part is used for big businesses to make their money. However, studies have shown that Valentine's Day could potentially benefit a relationship so don't feel too bad about spending a little money next year.
WORKS CITED
https://www.thelist.com/39368/untold-truth-valentines-day/
https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2
https://getfluid.com/blog/hallmark-valentines-day/
http://time.com/3707086/hershey-kiss-history-valentines/
This is such a good take on the day — I've never thought of Valentine's day as being a moneymaking day for companies. But now that I think about it, there's so many things that I see that contribute to making Americans spend more money: candy, cards, flowers, etc. I even see other industries profiting off of this, like the entertainment industry when they debut love shows and other Valentine-themed works. Great find!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think Halloween and Valentine's Day are very similar from an economic point of view. On both holidays, people feel obligated to buy sweets and gifts. According to the National Retail Federation, 95% of surveyed Americans buy candy for Halloween. That is a massive market and demand! American consumers spend around $9 billion annually on just this holiday. Whereas Valentine's Day purchases are limited mainly to gifts like chocolate and Teddy bears, Halloween's market is more versatile; people also shop for costumes, decorations and party supplies. Like we discussed in class, these holidays are perfect examples of complement products and substitutions. If one candy is priced too high, you can simply buy another brand. Do you think Halloween or Valentine's Day is more commercialized?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/sleasca/2017/10/30/halloween-spending-halloween-candy/#378410f020a1
I think it's interesting just how much money is spent on Valentine's day because it makes it so clear on how it is a "hallmark holiday" especially because it's a day that is meant to celebrate love. One could spend the day by just being with their significant other but over the years it gets more and more hyped up by the things people buy for each other, which starts a trend of buying more and more to fit in. At some point, people seem to judge their SO's love by the gift they get and how expensive it is which obviously connects to the money aspect of the day.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really intriguing post! It's also interesting to see how price of some Valentine's gifts differ by where people live. For example, in Boston or LA, the average price to treat someone at the spa is $50 more than other major cities. Chicago was found to be the least expensive for all gifts, including roses, spa, and movie tickets. However, no matter the price, most people in a relationship will probably get some gift for the significant other because of the "normative behavior" Ariely mentions. Valentine's Day has become a day to buy gifts and it would be considered "wrong" if one did not give anything to his or her partner.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6abeaceb-16bc-4fac-98eb-0937ac343a7d/valentines-day.pdf
I really liked your post! It's interesting to think about the commercial reasons behind some popular holidays, including Valentine's Day. In addition to this side of Valentine's Day, I wanted to research more behind the "normative behavior" associated with this holiday. According to one source, this holiday traditionally helped to reinforce gender stereotypes -- with the man buying roses and chocolates for the woman. However, in recent years, the media and marketing services have shifted their view to be more inclusive and market to a larger, more accepting audience. Now there are less expectations about what gifts to get someone and "everyone is celebrating Valentine’s Day how they see fit." Overall, this could affect big business in a potentially positive way since it allows more people to participate in the holiday and traditional activities of chocolate or card buying.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.iushorizon.com/21797/opinions/gender-norms-on-valentines-day/