Maktoob Research revealed that love is undeniably in the air, with 72 percent of the its survey's respondents saying they consider themselves romantic, while 48 percent believe that Valentine's Day has become too commercial For expressions of love, the best route to the heart of Middle Eastern residents is through flowers and gifts. Maktoob Research's second annual 'Valentine's survey has revealed what's on the minds and in the hearts of men and women across the Arab region on Valentine's Day.The survey was conducted from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5, among 3,195 Arabs of different nationalities who are either married or involved in a serious relationship. Aged 18 to 35, participants were surveyed from across 11 countries in the GCC, Levant and North Africa region.While gifts (13 percent) ranked ahead of romantic phone calls (11 percent), a dinner date (10 percent) and Valentine's cards (9 percent) on respondent's wish lists, amazingly flowers (15 percent) ranked as the most exciting and romantic gift this Valentine's.Another surprising finding is that this year, 72 percent of the respondents consider themselves to be romantic people as opposed to 62 percent of last year's respondents. However, 58 percent claim to have never celebrated Valentine's Day before. But 57 percent said they would celebrate the special day this year. The other 43 percent, who said they don't have special plans for the day, cited different reasons. Some said that it is against their religion/culture, while others said that love needed to be expressed throughout the year not assigned to one day only. Some have cited financial reasons. But Valentine's Day experts - the 24 percent that have celebrated it before - said that they make it a point to keep the sentiment of romance alive in their relationships and celebrate the occasion every year. North Africans celebrate the day more frequently than their counterparts in the GCC and the Levant. GCC's wish list, however, was costly to say the list. "Going away to a hotel or on a trip, "a dinner date and "jewellery featured more prominently in GCC respondents's desired Valentine's Day gifts. Other classical display off affection, made it to the list. Only 2 percent in GCC said they wished their loved ones to recite pomes (only 0.1 percent were actually willing to reverse roles and recite the poems themselves). The Levant, the poem recitation featured higher on the wish list. Just less than 28 percent were willing to spend $50 and below on gifts for their loved ones; 16.1 percent were willing to spend $51 - $100; 6.4 percent were willing to spend $101 - $150 while 10.7 percent respondents were willing to spend more than $151. Respondents in the GCC were willing to spend the most, followed by the Levant and then North Africa. Men were willing to spend more on gifts than women. Forty-two percent believe that Valentine's Day is not exclusive to romantically involved people, while 46 percent believe that celebrating the day went against their religious beliefs.Forty-eight percent believe that Valentine's Day has become too commercial as opposed to 37 percent who claimed the same last year. The results of this year's survey clearly indicate that the majority of residents in the Arab region are incredibly romantic and still love receiving traditional gifts such as flowers, simple gifts and phone calls, said Maktoob Research Director Tamara Deprez. "On the other hand, we've also received feedback from a large number of respondents who say that they will not be celebrating the occasion as they believe that it goes against their religious beliefs. For more information regarding the products and services of Maktoob Research, contact Tamara Deprez (tel: +971 4 3602796 or [email protected]), or visit the website www.maktoob-research.com.
