Yahoo! Hong Kong conducted a survey to find out about consumer behavior and retail trends during Valentine’s Day. Incidentally, this year, the first day of Chinese New Year (CNY) also falls on 14 February. The last time these two occasions clashed was 57 years ago.

The survey was conducted with more than 1,000 respondents, 80% of which were born in the 70s or the 80s. 50% of them, who are either in a relationship or married said they will be celebrating the day with both their partner and family, while 34% chose to celebrate Valentine’s Day before or after 14 February.

Other interesting survey highlights include:

1.    52% of the respondents who have “someone special” in mind, said that they will not confess their love to that person on Valentine’s Day since it is also CNY and the “atmosphere and mood” is not quite right.

2.    Consumer confidence is growing steadily in Hong Kong and the survey shows that 66% plan to spend five to ten percent more for Valentine’s Day this year, or have the same budget as last year. 15% of the respondents plan to spend between US$250 – 650 on gifts for their partner.

3.    Nearly 50% of the female respondents prefer gifts that are more personalised, unique and practical. They also said that the most unwanted Valentine’s Day gifts include flowers, chocolates, soft toys, health and beauty products.

4.    About half of the respondents who are either in a relationship or married shared that they will use less gift packaging to be more environmentally friendly.

5.    20% of the male respondents would like to spend Valentine’s Day in ShenZhen, China while 20% of the female respondents wish to spend the day in Paris. None of the male respondents chose Paris as an option.

6.    80% of the respondents who are single revealed that they will use online match-making services like Yahoo! Personals to find a potential partner or to meet more people through social gatherings.

According to Lisa Tam, public relations manager of Yahoo! Hong Kong, VIP members of Yahoo! Personals are invited to send messages to other members in the hopes of finding someone special and stand to win prizes during this special festive season.

Internet users can also visit Yahoo! Hong Kong Auction site to purchase Valentine’s Day and CNY gifts for their loved ones.

There’s a lot of debate lately about cell phones in the air. Do we want to be connected and productive with carryons securely stashed in overhead bins? Or do we like the excuse of being fully disconnected at 30,000 feet? Would we welcome the ability to make calls on our mobiles, or would we rather send a lynch mob to seat 19D?

Turns out 74% of consumers don’t want to hear you yacking with your office cohorts, but they wouldn’t mind a bit if you sent them a text message. A new survey commissioned by Yahoo! and conducted by Harris Interactive revealed that nearly three out of four consumers agree that mobile phone usage on planes should be restricted to silent features. The majority of us want to stay connected to our life on the ground. Email, text, IM, games — all good. But if we have to sit next to you making goo-goo with your girlfriend in Gilroy, game over.

What’s more, more than two-thirds think there should be a designated talking section. Hey, it worked so well with smoking. Why not?

So how about you? Want to participate in our entirely statistically-invalid random sampling?

Will Yodel Anecdotal readers agree that silence is golden?

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor