11 February 2023 , 10:00
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It's only a few days until Valentine's Day and as such many people will likely be heading out to buy a little something for their significant other, be it a card, a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates.
However, there will be some people who can't help but go a tad overboard when it comes to February 14, splashing the cash on expensive items and swanky date nights in a bid to show their partner how much they care.
But according to an expert, doing the latter could be a mistake as we are often spending money on 'nonsense' to prove our love.
Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist from Anglia Ruskin University, has explained how we've been conditioned to equate material items with importance and love.
Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd shared her expert opinions (Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd)
The expert has told how we equate material items with importance and love (stock photo) (Getty Images)Speaking to the Mirror, the expert said: "We've been conditioned to think that consumption and brands and products are important and love fits into that category.
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"What do you do if you have a day of love? You'll think you need to give the person you love as many things as possible to show that you care because items are seen as being the equivalence of importance and caring.
"This has grown from being cards to flowers to chocolate, to a great expensive dinner out or a diamond necklace.
"It's now almost reached a level, where younger people, in particular those under 30, they've never experienced the old-fashioned way of doing things, so they've grown up learning it's really important to do everything in a bigger style."
Dr Jansson-Boyd added: "Also what's really sad is that when banks look at credit cards every year they will often find that young people have gone excessively overdrawn, this is sometimes due to hundreds of pounds spent on a Valentine's Day meal, when the same meal would have only cost £30 if you hadn't gone on that day.
"It's absolute nonsense, but people buy into it because that's what they've been conditioned to do.
"It's not their fault, they just don't know any different, consumption has become incredibly important to humans and it's difficult to turn that around."
With that in mind, it might be worth putting a little bit more thought into how you show your loved ones you care this Valentine's Day...
Do you agree with the consumer expert? Let us know in the comments below.