“Shoppers head straight to the candy aisles to express their love on Valentine ’s Day, ” said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer & Shopping Insights, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services. “While chocolate candy sales are particularly strong during Valentine ’s week, we see healthy sales for all candy during this time, placing third after Halloween and Easter. ”

Chocoholics?

Nielsen ’s analysis of supermarket sales in 52 U.S. markets shows that consumers in Atlanta buy the most chocolate candy during Valentine ’s week, with consumers in that market buying 48 percent more chocolate candy than would be expected for a market of its size, followed by Denver and Cincinnati.

Source: The Nielsen Company, U.S. Supermarkets with $2 million and over in sales, week ending February 17, 2007.

(i)Percent category sales in market by percent grocery ACV sales in market, times 100.

Romeos Splurge on Wine

Nielsen ’s research shows that overall sales of sparkling wine are slightly higher during Valentine ’s week, indicating that consumers buy fewer bottles but spend more per bottle. Similarly, overall sales of ros ι wine are down during Valentine ’s week, but sales of premium-priced ros ι wine (bottles priced $6 or higher) rise, signifying holiday splurges.

According to Claritas, a Nielsen service, its PRIZM segmentation system shows that a consumer segment called New Empty Nests (upper-middle income, older consumers with grown-up children who have recently moved out of the house) are three times more likely to drink ros ι wine during any given week. Other consumer segments more likely to drink ros ι wine are God ’s Country (upper-income, mostly middle-aged couples in spacious homes), Gray Power (older middle-class, home-owning suburbanite retirees), Big Fish Small Pond (older, upper-class, college-educated professionals, often leading citizens of small-town communities and Winner ’s Circle (mostly 25 – 44 year-old couples with large families in new-money subdivisions.)

First Comes Love, Then Comes . . .

Perhaps as a result of Valentine ’s Day romance, more pregnancy and infertility test kits are sold approximately six weeks after Valentine ’s Day than at any other time of the year. Consumers spend more than $15 million³ on pregnancy and infertility test kits during the second, third and fourth weeks of March, with the third week of March ranking number one⁴ in sales.

Dating Services Draw Back Cupid ’s Bow

For all the singles looking for love or just a date on Valentine ’s Day, Nielsen Monitor-Plus shows overall advertising spending by dating services increased nine percent between January and October 2007 compared to the same time period in 2006, reaching $379.6 million. The majority of ad spending dollars was focused on three specific media: Internet ($134.0 million), national cable TV ($107.2 million) and network television ($22.9 million). National magazines came in a close fourth with $21.0 million in ad spending nearly doubling its spending from $11.1 million in 2006. Network television also saw a significant rise in spending, increasing 52 percent to $22.9 million. Interestingly, only one dating service advertised in national newspapers in 2006, JDate.com. But in 2007, JDate.com ’s ad spending was entirely online, with no other dating service placing ad dollars in national newspapers for the January – October 2007 time period.

Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus

“Since most dating services are virtual businesses, it makes sense that they work to attract customers in the same space they operate, which is online, ” said Brian Lane, senior vice president, Client Strategy & Product Management, Nielsen Monitor-Plus. “While traditionally dating services have advertised heavily on network TV and national cable TV, we increasingly see more dating services leveraging national magazines to place their advertising dollars. ”

Top Advertisers

Spending for the top ten dating services represents 91 percent of total spending for this industry ($356.5 million of the $379.6 million total). Match.com led the way, spending $145.5 million in January – October 2007, almost doubling its budget from the same time period in 2006. On the other hand, the number two advertiser eHarmony.com, cut spending 16 percent, reaching $88.1 million, and gave up its number one position.

Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com

¹ Week ending February 17, 2007 showed total sales of $322.7 million for chocolate candy in U.S. food, drug and mass merchandiser stores, including Wal-Mart.

² Week ending February 17, 2007 showed total sales of $414.6 million for total candy sold in U.S. food, drug and mass merchandiser stores, including Wal-Mart.

³ Three weeks ending March 24, 2007 showed total sales of $15.4 million for pregnancy and infertility test kits in U.S. food, drug and mass merchandiser stores, including Wal-Mart.

⁴ One week ending March 24, 2007 showed total sales of $5.2 million for pregnancy and infertility test kits in U.S. food, drug and mass merchandiser stores, including Wal-Mart.