Revealing Spending Habits Among Couples on Gifts
It’s no secret that purchasing gifts for your partner can be a stressful experience, trying to find a present that is impactful but fitting for the occasion can prove tricky. Despite this, birthdays, Valentine’s, anniversaries and Christmas offer the perfect opportunity to spoil your partner and can be a great way to show your appreciation towards them.
It leads to the question, how much do we spend on our loved ones when it comes to these events, and more importantly, how much do we expect our partners to spend on us? Does price matter or is it the thought that counts?
To find out more, CouponBirds surveyed 2,000 US adults quizzing them on their spending habits when it comes to birthdays and special occasions and what they expect in return, the results will surprise you!
US adults spend $180.39 on average on their partner’s birthday gifts
Birthdays provide a chance for partners to share their love and gratitude by showering them with gifts and quality time. We quizzed respondents on how much they spend on their partners when it comes to purchasing birthday gifts.
The most popular response was between $101 to $200 with 22% of people spending this amount on a loved one’s gift. 48% of those aged 65 and over stated this was their budget, alongside 33% of those in the 55-64 age bracket.
Younger generations tended to spend a bit less, with 33% of 18-24-year-olds spending between $21-$50 while 25% spent had a slightly higher budget of between $51 to $100.
Meanwhile, 17% stated that they spend anywhere between $51 to $100, as 16% dug a bit deeper into their pockets spending between $201 to $300. Overall, the average amount spent on partners for their birthdays across all respondents was $180.39.
Interestingly, there were some big spenders with 5% sharing that their budget is $401 to $500 while 2% spend $500 or more.
Those surveyed aged 35-44 were the biggest spenders, paying out $206.20 on average. The demographics also revealed that men were more likely to spend more on their partners than women, averaging $222.50 compared to $156.50.
Regionally, the west coast states spent the most on birthday gifts with an average spend of $200.57 compared to the southeast states which were the lowest ($166.56).
So, now we’ve examined how much we spend, how much do we expect in return? Well, our research revealed that we actually expect less back on average.
Across all respondents, the average amount we expect our partners to spend on us for birthday presents equates to $171.29. Almost 10 dollars less than the average amount people surveyed spend on their loved ones.
In fact, 22% shared that anything between $101 to $200 was acceptable, which was the exact same percentage that revealed this as their budget when purchasing birthday gifts for their partner.
It’s interesting to note that while 11% revealed that they spend between $301 to $400, only 9% expect this amount to be spent in return. Furthermore, 13% of those surveyed stated that they don’t have a preference for the amount spent on them on birthday gifts.
Demographics revealed that women on average expected a similar amount to be spent in return ($156.22) while men expected less than they had paid out for their loved one ($197.46).
The age bracket anticipating the most money spent in return was those aged 35-44 with an average expectation of $193.35. 18-24-year-olds had the lowest expectations with an average of $124.96.
Our survey aimed to find out how confrontational couples were if they were displeased with the present value they received.
We asked the respondents if they would tell their partner if they believed they had spent an insignificant amount on their gifts. It was fascinating to learn that 62% stated they would with 38% of these people revealing they had done so in the past.
Males were more likely to confront their partners with 47% sharing that they would and had done previously compared to 33% of female respondents. Younger generations were more likely to share their true feelings, 46% of those who would and had spoken up in the past were aged 18 to 24 compared to 29% of those aged 65 and above.
However, despite the potentially uneasy conversation, it seemed to work. When asked what happened next, 33% shared that their partner spent more on a new present. 23% revealed that their partner apologized while 23% also shared that it led to an argument. Rather shockingly, 18% of people surveyed revealed that the clash over gift-buying led to a breakup.
To compare the data between partners and families, we also asked how much people spend on parents and siblings for their birthdays.
This survey revealed that on average US adults spend $20 less on family than they do for their partners with the average amount at $159.88. 3% revealed that they do not buy their close family members gifts for their birthday which was slightly higher than the 1% avoiding purchasing gifts for their partners.
Similarly to their partners, the 35-44 age bracket spent the most on their families spending $169.20 on average. This, however, was still more than $30 less than the same age bracket spent on their partners.
Expectations surrounding Valentine's gifts
With Valentine's Day around the corner, many couples will have already begun planning or purchasing their gifts for the romantic holiday, but just how much does this day matter in comparison to birthdays?
Next, we wanted to find out if the potential for Valentine's gifts could tempt US adults into a relationship, therefore, we quizzed survey respondents on whether they would start dating in the lead-up to the day in order to get a gift.
Shockingly, 61% shared that this is something they would do with 40% stating they have already done this in the past! It was alarming to learn that 14% were unsure leaving only a quarter of people surveyed outright stating that this is not something they would do.
Of the 40% who had previously started a relationship with the motive of receiving Valentine's gifts, 46% were aged between 25 and 34.
Regionally, 33% of adults in the midwest responded that they would but haven’t previously while 47% of those in the northeast states revealed they would and have done in the past.
We asked whether we spend more or less on our partner's Valentine's gifts compared to birthday presents. The results were evenly distributed, with 23% responding that birthdays were the priority while 23% said the opposite.
39% of those surveyed revealed that they spend the same amount of money for both celebrations. Of this 39%, 46% were aged 18 to 24 and 47% came from states situated on the west coast.
Intriguingly, when analyzing gender demographics, the results were more split, with men preferring to spend more on their partner's birthdays (27%) and women having a preference to fork out more money when purchasing Valentine's gifts (26%).
Three-quarters of US adults agree that it’s the thought that counts!
The thought that goes into the present can sometimes outweigh the cost, after all, a well-thought-out or sentimental gift can have a value that exceeds money and yields a more emotive response.
So money isn't everything when it comes to gift buying, or is it? We quizzed US adults on whether they agree with the statement: "when buying or receiving a gift, it's the thought that counts more than the price."
Overall, 75% agreed with the statement with 38% strongly agreeing and 37% somewhat agreeing. Half of the people aged 45-54 strongly agreed, similarly, 60% of those aged 65 and over had the same opinion.
On the other hand, 11% of respondents disagreed. 16% of females surveyed were of this opinion which was a stark contrast to males as only 1% of men disagreed with the statement that price trumps the thought that goes into gift-buying.
Final thoughts
It's fair to say that our investigation into the spending habits within relationships when purchasing Valentine's and birthday gifts yielded some extremely interesting results.
In particular, we found it startling to learn that 40% of US adults surveyed had previously entered a relationship around Valentine’s Day in order to receive a present. As we expected, this tended to be something more apparent among younger couples with older generations caring less about receiving a gift around the romantic holiday.
It was also an interesting discovery to learn that confronting their partner on the amount spent on gifts led to 18% of people ending their relationship entirely. Overall, we believe that the thought can definitely outweigh the value but this is something relative to each person and gift received.
