Picnic dates over lavish gifts: 47% of GenZs prefer a budget-friendly Valentine’s day

• An estimated 47% of daters prefer to have a budget-friendly Valentine's day date over fancy dining and exchanging expensive presents.
• Gen Zs from tier 1 and tier 2 cities disclosed having a pact with their date to exchange meaningful yet practical gifts.
• According to Tinder’s Year in Swipe report for 2022, picnics, coffee dates, stand-up shows, long drives and cooking were among the most popular dating ideas.

“Presents are the best way to show someone how much you care. It's like this tangible thing that you can point to and say, 'Hey man, I love you... this many dollars worth,” says Micheal Scott from the hit American sitcom The Office.

He encapsulates the sentiment of Valentine's Day and gift giving. However, Gen Zs are moving away from measuring their love in money and turning to meaningful, less fanciful ways of showing their love.

A recent study by Indian dating app QuackQuack shows that 47% of daters prefer to have a budget-friendly Valentine's day date over fancy dining and exchanging expensive presents.

Couples aged below 23, essentially GenZs from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, disclosed having a pact with their date to exchange meaningful yet practical gifts, and most of them have a set budget. This ensures no one has to burn a hole in their pockets to enjoy the day of love.

According to Tinder’s Year in Swipe Report 2022, picnics, coffee dates, stand-up shows, long drives and cooking were among the most popular dating ideas. Even during the pandemic, dating involved activities such as roller skating and grocery shopping.

Beyond romance: The rise of communi-dating

Valentine's day has turned into a litmus test for love, thanks to peer pressure and marketing, thus creating immense stress on couples and singles. While couples are under pressure to come up with interesting ideas to demonstrate their love, singles find themselves rushing to find a partner.

QuackQuack surveyed 15,000 users — Gen Zs and millennials aged between 18-32, from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to find out how they prefer to celebrate Valentine's day. The survey found that singles join dating apps during this time of the year out of the urgency to find a soulmate, especially on the day of love.

"Every year, we see a spike in the number of users during this time of the year. And this is also the time when people look beyond romance. Among the 22 million users, almost 33% of the users seek friendship on the app. There's also an 8% increase in virtual dates on the day of love as compared to last year,” said QuackQuack's founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal.

QuackQuack says 35% of dates are arranged the night before V-day than any other day. An estimated 22% of women from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities mentioned joining the app to find a date because they felt lonely. The app's data shows there is almost a 13% spike in the number of people joining the app on Valentine's Day compared to other days of the month.

However, thanks largely to the Covid pandemic-induced isolation, there has also been a growing need to move beyond just romantic partners. Called communidating – which means using the app to find new friends and connections beyond romantic relationships. This is a growing trend, especially among millennials and working professionals. For these people, this day becomes a day to celebrate self-love and friendships.

QuackQuack has found that almost 33% of its users seek genuine companions during this time of the year.

This stands true across dating apps – for instance Bumble, Tinder also provide ‘friendship’ or initiatives like ‘Bumble Biz’, ‘Tinder Social’ where users can make professional connections as well.

“Self-care and me-time are on the top of the GenZ single daters' list of ideal ways to spend V-day without falling off the wagon. 28% of the survey participants between 18 and 23 mentioned having a fun night planned with friends. 12% of women daters from tier 1 and 2 cities are planning Galentine's day instead of wallowing in self-pity,” Quack Quack reported.

Introduced by the sitcom Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s day is a day for women to celebrate their friendships with their ‘gals’ or female friends.

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