Top Gifts for Valentines Day--Direct Marketing, Mail Order, E-commerce News

Direct Marketing, Mail Order, and E-commerce News from the National Mail Order Association

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Shopping in America: Valentine's Day Survey Shows
Holiday Gaining Momentum With Consumers; Majority
Plan to Spend More or Same as Last Year, with Average
of $178 for Related Purchases

Report Reveals Top Gifts for Sweethearts & Names Hottest Celebrity Heartthrobs

Cupid may be hitting his mark this year, according to the Shopping in America
2005 Valentine's Day survey, revealing consumer plans for the annual holiday of
romance - from anticipated spending to top gifts to the hottest celebrity heartthrobs.
Conducted for The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by August Partners, the
survey shows that shoppers will spend an average of $178.39 on Valentine's
Day-related purchases. The figure includes an average of $100.63 on gifts for
2.3 recipients, and an additional $77.76 on events such as dinner, movies and
theater. Most shoppers (84.4 percent) plan to spend the same or more than they
did last year.

Men plan to spend 33 percent more than women for Valentine's Day
($218.17 vs. $146.26, respectively). By age, those between 45 and 54 will spend
the most on overall purchases ($198.77) and the youngest shoppers surveyed
(12-to-17 years) will spend the least ($95.20).

                                            Male    Female    All

Valentine's Day Shopping                 Shoppers  Shoppers  Shoppers

--------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Number of Recipients on Gift List            1.9       2.6       2.3

--------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Average Anticipated Gift Expenditure     $119.92    $85.03   $100.63

--------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Average Anticipated Event Expenditure     $98.25    $61.23    $77.76

--------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Average Total Expenditures               $218.17   $146.26   $178.39

--------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Gifts: Their Heart's Desire?

Tradition holds true as greeting cards top both the Valentine's Day gift lists and wish
lists for men and women. Candy and flowers/plants also rank among the top anticipated
gift purchases. But will desires be met when it comes to gifts for sweetheart? The
following chart (a) shows the top five anticipated gift purchases and corresponding wish
lists for male and female Valentine's Day shoppers.

Gift List:  What Women Are Giving     Wish List:  What Men Want

------------------------------------- --------------------------------

No 1 Gift                             No 1 Gift

 Expenditure    V-Day Card      28.4%  Preference V-Day Card     23.0%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 2 Gift                             No 2 Gift

 Expenditure    Candy           20.6%  Preference Candy          13.3%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 3 Gift                             No 3 Gift

 Expenditure    Flowers/Plants  10.7%  Preference Watch/Jewelry  11.0%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 4 Gift                             No 4 Gift

 Expenditure    Cologne         10.1%  Preference Cologne        10.7%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 5 Gift                             No 5 Gift   Boxer Shorts

 Expenditure    Watch/Jewelry    8.9%  Preference  /Underwear     9.8%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

Gift List:  What Men Are Giving       Wish List:  What Women Want

------------------------------------- --------------------------------

No 1 Gift                             No 1 Gift

 Expenditure    V-Day Card     20.5 %  Preference V-Day Card     22.2%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 2 Gift                             No 2 Gift

 Expenditure    Flowers        19.4 %  Preference Flowers       20.0 %

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 3 Gift                             No 3 Gift

 Expenditure    Candy          16.7 %  Preference Jewelry       15.5 %

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 4 Gift                             No 4 Gift

 Expenditure    Jewelry         12.1%  Preference Candy          13.4%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

No 5 Gift                             No 5 Gift   Spa/Personal

 Expenditure    Lingerie         7.8%  Preference  Care          10.3%

--------------- -------------- ------ ----------- ------------- ------

(a) Multiple category responses allowed. Answers recalculated to bring

    total to 100%

"As the first major shopping season since the winter holidays, Valentine's Day is
growing in popularity with consumers," said Garry Butcher, vice president of marketing
and consumer research for The Macerich Company. "Our survey shows that most
shoppers plan to spend the same or more than last year at around $178.00 for gifts
and events with their sweethearts."

Top Heartthrobs

True love weighed out over fantasy in the heartthrob category. "My own special
Valentine" was the leading survey response to the question "Who makes your heart
beat the fastest?" For men, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Lopez
ranked as the top celebrity heartthrobs. Britney Spears came in last. Women selected
Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise. The Donald was the least popular heartthrob
for women.

      Who Makes Your Heart Beat          Who Makes Your Heart Beat

            the Fastest?                       the Fastest?

          (Male Shoppers)                    (Female Shoppers)

-------------------------------------- ------------------------------

My Own Special Valentine      20.6%    My Own Special Valentine 28.4%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Angelina Jolie                13.7%    Brad Pitt                13.8%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Beyonce Knowles               11.8%    Johnny Depp              11.4%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Jennifer Lopez                10.5%    Tom Cruise                9.4%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Lindsay Lohan                  9.0%    Usher                     8.4%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Jennifer Aniston               8.1%    Denzel Washington         8.2%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Nicole Kidman                  8.0%    None of the Above         8.2%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Julia Roberts                  6.6%    Jude Law                  5.2%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Jessica Simpson                4.8%    Jim Carrey                4.1%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

None of the Above              4.8%    Donald Trump              3.1%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

Britney Spears                 2.1%

------------------------- ---------    ------------------------ -----

The Romance Scale: Hot or Not?

Males and females consider themselves virtually equal on the "romance scale." On a
scale of one to 10 with one being "chilly" and 10 being "red hot," male shoppers rated
themselves at 6.9 overall and female shoppers rated themselves 7.0.

A Charitable Heart: Tsunami Relief

The majority of Shopping in America survey participants (58 percent) have made or plan
to make donations to the internal tsunami relief efforts. Female shoppers (62 percent)
are more likely to give then their male counterparts (53 percent).

About Shopping in America

Shopping in America is a national shopper intercept survey that studies consumer shopping trends. The Valentine's Day survey was conducted among more than 2,500 shoppers in seven regional shopping centers geographically spread throughout the United States. Total results have a reliability factor of +/- 1 percent. Additional results and graphics for the Shopping in America surveys can be found at www.shoppinginamerica.biz.
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