Valentine’s Day Is Bigger Than Romance for Gen Z
Valentine’s Day is no longer just a romantic holiday for Gen Z — it’s a broader social celebration rooted in friendship, community, and real-world connection.
How Gen Z Is Redefining Valentine’s Day: What Brands Need to Know
Most Valentine’s Day campaigns still follow the same script: couples, roses, and gift guides split into “for him” and “for her.” But for Gen Z, a generation where celebration sits at the core of identity, February 14th isn’t confined to romance. It’s a broader social moment.
IMI Pulse© data shows Gen Z’s relational energy extends well beyond dating. Only 45% casually date, and dating app engagement is relatively low: 27% use Tinder, 23% use Bumble, and 22% use Hinge, with usage skewing male. The traditional Valentine’s assumption of romance as the primary activation lane simply doesn’t reflect how most Gen Z connect.
Instead, connection centers on community. IMI Pulse© data shows 77% hang out with friends, 70% get together with friends specifically to celebrate, and 73% regularly catch up with friends and family. 80% regularly talk to and think about their friends, and 75% visit family. The rise of Galentine’s and Palentine’s Day isn’t a social media trend. It reflects where celebration already lives.
For brands, the opportunity isn’t to abandon romance. It’s to design for the full relationship ecosystem Gen Z values. They don’t need a date to celebrate. They need a reason.
Friends and family come first - even as Gen Z gets older
As Gen Z ages, partner relationships do gain importance - spouse/partner time rises from 43% among younger Gen Z to 60% among older. But friends and family don’t lose ground. Younger Gen Z indexes at 83% for hanging out with friends and 85% for family time. Even older Gen Z holds strong at 74% and 80% respectively.
Valentine’s activations that speak to “the people you love” rather than just “your partner” align with how this generation actually operates.
Dating apps aren’t the connection point brands assume
With Tinder at 27%, Bumble at 23%, and Hinge at 22%, digital dating isn’t a dominant Gen Z behavior - and it’s even lower among women (26%, 20%, and 20% respectively). Rather than anchoring Valentine’s activations in digital matchmaking narratives, the data points toward real-life connection as more relevant territory.
Analog is having a moment
Gen Z is actively seeking screen-free experiences. 65% play card games. 62% attend movies. 58% go shopping with friends. 44% attend concerts. This generation is looking for reasons to get into the world and off their phones - and Valentine’s Day is a culturally built-in excuse to do exactly that.
Four activation lanes to unlock
IMI Pulse© data points to four lanes for brands:
Design for the Group, Not the Couple Shift from partner-centric to friend-forward experiences. Create products, bundles, and messaging built for trios, roommates, siblings, and chosen family. Valentine’s becomes a shared moment, not a paired one.
Make Celebration Participatory Gen Z does not just consume moments. They co-create them. Build in mechanics that require interaction: collaborative games, customizable kits, shared challenges, or prompts that spark conversation. The product becomes the catalyst.
Extend the Moment Beyond February 14 This generation is looking to celebrate point blank. Introduce countdowns, themed lead-ups, collectible drops, or episodic content that stretches the occasion into a multi-touchpoint experience.
Start Offline. Amplify Online. Create physical-first activations that naturally convert into social currency: printed artifacts, shareable keepsakes, immersive photo moments, tangible tokens. The IRL experience fuels the digital expression, not the other way around.
Gen Z hasn’t abandoned Valentine’s Day - they’ve expanded it. The opportunity for brands is in moving beyond the couples playbook and designing for the social, analog, friendship-first way this generation actually celebrates. The brands that get this right won’t just win February 14th - they’ll build the kind of cultural relevance that carries through the rest of the year.
Have a question about how to connect with Gen Z? ⬇️ Download our Stop Scrolling, Start Connecting report or get in touch.
