Asking T members over 60! "Survey on Valentine's Day"

2014.02.10 Press Releases
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.

－"Valentine's Day" is a traditional event enjoyed by seniors too. One in four men over 60 wants chocolate! On White Day, about 70% give a gift in return! －

Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has conducted a "Valentine's Day Survey" using the "T Survey," an online opinion survey, targeting 543 T members aged 60 or older (age as of 2013) who use T-CARD.

Valentine's Day Survey Results Digest

●What is Valentine's Day for men over 60?
　・25.9% of people want chocolate
　・How many chocolates have you received in the past few years?
　　"1-2" (54.2%), "3-4" (24.8%), "0" (13.3%)
　Who will receive the chocolate?
　　"Wife" (66.9%), "Children" (49.2%), "Women at work" (31.9%), "Female friends" (19.4%)
　・66.9% of people give gifts in return on White Day
　・80% of White Day gift purchases cost over 1,000 yen
●What is Valentine's Day for women over 60?
　・33.9% of people plan to give chocolates and other gifts this year.
　- How many chocolates and other gifts do you give on Valentine's Day?
　　"0/Will not give/Not yet decided" (66.1%), "1-2" (15.6%), "3-4" (12.1%)
　・The person to whom you give chocolates etc.
　　"Husband" (59.8%), "Son" (46.0%), "Grandson" (24.1%), "Male coworker" (12.6%)
　・60% of purchases of Valentine's Day chocolates etc. cost less than 1,000 yen

Q: Do you want gifts like chocolates for Valentine's Day?
　　 Are you planning to give a gift such as chocolate on Valentine's Day?
　　*Response method: Single answer, n=543

Valentine's Day season has arrived again this year. Recently, we have seen a diversification in the style of Valentine's Day, with "friend chocolate," "reverse chocolate," and "self-chocolate." In this "T Survey," we conducted a "Valentine's Day survey" limited to T members aged 60 and over to find out how the senior generation perceives Valentine's Day and what kind of consumption behavior they are engaging in.
First, we asked men aged 60 and over whether they would like to receive gifts such as chocolate on Valentine's Day. Although Valentine's Day is often considered an event for younger generations, 25.9% answered "I would like chocolate."Additionally, 16.8% of respondents answered that they "didn't want chocolate," while 57.3% answered that it didn't matter. On the other hand, when women aged 60 and over were asked whether they planned to give chocolates or other gifts on Valentine's Day this year, only 33.9% answered "Yes, I plan to give them," 38.1% answered "No, I don't plan to give them," and 33.1% answered "I haven't decided yet."

Q: Over the past few years, what is the average number of chocolates or other gifts you receive on Valentine's Day?
　　 How many chocolates and other gifts do you plan to give this Valentine's Day?
　　*Response method: Single answer, n=543

Next, we asked men aged 60 and over how many chocolates and other gifts they had received on Valentine's Day in recent years, and found that 13.3% answered "0," having received no gifts from anyone. Among these, the most common answer was "1-2 pieces" (54.2%), followed by "3-4 pieces" (24.8%). While just over 10% of people did not receive any chocolate, a total of 7.7% received "5-10 pieces" or "more than 10 pieces" of chocolate. On the other hand, when women aged 60 and over were asked how many chocolates and other gifts they planned to give in total this Valentine's Day, the most common answer was "0/I won't give any/I haven't decided yet" (66.1%), followed by "1-2" (15.6%), "3-4" (12.1%), "5-10 or more" (5.4%), and "10 or more" (0.8%). When comparing these results between men and women, the proportion of men who plan to receive "1-2 pieces" is lower than that of women who do not plan to give chocolate, which suggests that men are more likely to receive chocolate from younger people than their peers.

Q: Who has given you gifts such as chocolates in the past few years?
　　 Who do you give gifts such as chocolates to?
　　*Response method: Multiple answers, n=335

Next, we asked men aged 60 and over who they receive Valentine's Day chocolates from, and 49.2% answered "children," 31.9% answered "women at work," and 19.4% answered "female friends," perhaps due to the fact that today's senior generation is enjoying a lifestyle. Among these, the most common answer was "wife" at 66.9%. On the other hand, when women aged 60 and over who answered that they plan to give chocolates on Valentine's Day this year were asked to whom they plan to give chocolates or other gifts, the most common answer was "husband" at 59.8%, followed by "son" at 46.0% and "grandchild" at 24.1%, revealing that more senior women plan to give chocolates to their own family members. When asked who people other than family members give gifts to, 12.6% said "male coworkers," 11.5% said "male friends," and 8.0% said "female friends," showing that giving "friend chocolates" is starting to catch on among senior women as well.

Q: Do you give gifts on White Day? Also, how much do you give per person on average?
　　 How much do you plan to spend on each gift?
　　*Response method: Men were given a single answer (free response for amount), women were given multiple answers, n=253

For men, White Day is the equivalent of Valentine's Day for women. When asked whether men aged 60 and over give gifts in return on White Day, 66.9% answered that they do. When asked how much they would spend on the return gift, 80% of respondents said they spent 1,000 yen or more, with the top answers being "1,000 to less than 2,000 yen" (43.4%), "2,000 to less than 3,000 yen" (18.1%), "3,000 to less than 5,000 yen" (16.9%), and "500 to less than 1,000 yen" (15.1%). These results show that senior men tend to spend a relatively large amount of money on gifts in return for Valentine's Day. On the other hand, when women aged 60 and over who answered that they plan to give chocolates on Valentine's Day this year were asked how much they plan to spend per gift this year, 60% said they would spend less than 1,000 yen, with the top answers being "500 to less than 1,000 yen" (40.2%), "1,000 to less than 2,000 yen" (32.2%), "2,000 to less than 3,000 yen" (16.1%), and "300 to less than 400 yen" (13.8%). Senior women tend to spend less on Valentine's Day gifts than men.

Q: What do you think about Valentine's Day?
　　*Response method: Multiple answers, n=543

Finally, when both men and women aged 60 and over were asked what they thought about Valentine's Day, the top answer for men was "It's good because it can be enjoyed by people of all ages" (34.6%), followed by "It's good because it can be enjoyed by the whole family" (31.5%), "Giving gifts in return on White Day is a hassle" (30.8%), "It's good for communication between spouses or lovers" (29.4%), and "It's a day that doesn't concern me (a day I don't care about)" (19.9%). On the other hand, the top answer for women was "It's good because people of all ages can enjoy it" (32.9%), followed by "It's good because the whole family can enjoy it" (31.9%), "It's good for communication between spouses or lovers" (26.9%), "It's a day that doesn't concern me (a day I don't care about)" (21.4%), and "It's good because I can thank people who have helped me" (19.8%). Although there were some differences in the answers given by men and women, the results show that Valentine's Day is a fun event for the senior generation as well.

■ Survey Overview
Survey method: Internet (T Survey)
Survey period: January 29th (Wed) to February 4th (Tue), 2014
Survey area: Nationwide
Survey subjects: Men and women aged 60 (age in 2013) (T members)
Sample size: 543 people (286 men, 257 women)

Materials related to this matter

Asking T members over 60! "Survey on Valentine's Day"

Inquiries regarding this matter
■Inquiries regarding the press release:
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Officer: Ando
TEL: 03-6800-4464

■Inquiries regarding the T Survey:
Sales representatives: Kosaka, Yoshida, Nagayama
MAIL: dbwatch@ccc.co.jp TEL: 03-6800-4561