Valentine’s Day 2024 Trends: Money Can Buy Love and Chocolates

“Joy” is the Dominant Emotion Found in the Social Media Data Analytics Study

To explore how social media users feel about Valentine’s Day and what consumers are buying leading up to February 14, a team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University examined over 2 Million social media posts from February 1 – February 11.

The full study, which is found here, found that the conversations surrounding Valentine’s Day were dominated by emotions of joy (85%) and a bit of sadness (8%). “Love” and “relationships” emerged as prominent themes, emphasizing the importance of expressing love and appreciation through thoughtful and heartfelt gifts. The act of gift giving was accepted as an important gesture of love, especially to highlight positivity in chaotic world.

Additionally, the study authored by Dr. Jin-A Choi, Dr. Yi Luo and Dr. Bond Benton found the following:

• Commercial spending around Valentine’s Day this year is expected to reach a record $25.8 billion in the U.S. alone,with an average spending of approximately $185 per person. Chocolate, roses, and flowers were were the most popular gifts mentioned that will contribute to that record spending. 
• Related to that spending, “chocolate” is the most searched Valentine’s gift on Google above flowers, roses and jewelry. In the 118k social media mentions from February 1-11 2024, “chocolate” dominated a third of the social conversations, especially “chocolate
  covered strawberries” and a “box of chocolate”
• Social media users expressed positive sentiment 2.5 times more than negative sentiment on social discourse surrounding Valentine’s Day gift ideas. Echoing this positivity, an overwhelming 83% of the social media posts expressed joy explicitly regarding the act of gift giving.

Fittingly, this is the 14th study from the Center of Strategic Communication, which in addition its media-friendly social media studies, provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

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About the School of Communication and Media: Founded in 2012, the School of Communication and Media offers a range of dynamic programs in communication and media to a talented and diverse student population of over 1,800. Offering degrees in film and television, social media and public relations, advertising, journalism and digital media, sports communication, communication and media studies, animation and visual effects, and an MA in public and organizational relations, the School prepares the next generation of communication and media practitioners and leaders. The School houses award-winning student programs that include WMSC Radio, The Montclarion newspaper, Hawk Communications Agency, the Red Hawk Sports Network, Hawk+ OTT streaming platform, and News Lab, as well as the Center for Cooperative Media, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism. Student projects and programs have recently received national recognition from PRSSA’s Bateman Competition, an Edward R Murrow Award, several Marconi Award nominations, and a College Television Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Media Contact: Keith Green, School of Communication and Media, 973-655-3701 or greenk@montclair.edu