The Cheap Engagement Rings Guide
  • Home
  • Buying guides
    • 10 things you need to know when shopping for cheap engagement rings online
    • 7 ways to save money on engagement rings
    • Frequently asked questions about engagement rings
    • Where to buy conflict free diamonds, ethical engagement rings and non blood diamonds
    • The beginners guide to gemstones for engagement rings
  • Top 10
    • 10 of the best places to buy cheap engagement rings for under £1000, £500 or £100
    • 10 of the best places to buy cheap mens wedding rings in gold, silver, platinum or palladium
    • 10 of the best engagement rings
    • Expensive engagement rings - 10 of the best places to buy top quality diamond rings
    • Amazon engagement rings
    • Unusual engagement rings
  • Shop by budget
    • Second hand diamond rings
    • Cheap engagement rings under £50
    • Cheap engagement rings under £100
    • Cheap engagement rings under £200
    • Cheap engagement rings under £300
    • Engagement rings under £500
    • Engagement rings under £1000
    • Our top 5 places to buy engagement rings under £500
  • Shop by diamond carat
    • The UKs 25 cheapest 0.25 carat diamond engagement rings
    • 1 carat diamond engagement ring price test
    • How much does a 2 carat diamond ring cost?
  • Cheap weddings
  • Blog
  • About us
    • About/disclaimer
    • Privacy policy
    • Press/PR

Is romance on the decline in the UK? Google Trends says no...

11/12/2016

 
I've got to admit, I love stats and graphs. I know some people glaze over at the first sign of an X-axis, but not me. 

I did some digging around a little while ago using Google's rather useful Trends tool, which gives an indication of what people are talking about and how society is changing. It shows things like interest in Justin Bieber or Barack Obama over time, but I think it can also show attitudes towards marriage, love and engagements.

The stats show (from my reading) that British men are becoming increasingly interested in marriage, bucking a global trend of apathy towards proposing.

Here's my working: 

The data shows that British interest in the search term 'engagement rings' on Google doubled over the space of a decade (2004 - 2015). That's a pretty significant increase (and it takes into account general increases in people using the internet in case you are wondering). The all-time peak was at the end of 2015, as people rushed to buy engagement rings for new year proposals. I expect the peak will be beaten in December 2016, though that's just a guess based on previous data.

Secondly, worldwide interest in the same Google search term ('engagement rings') dropped considerably over the same period. I calculated it as being a decline of about a quarter. 

Thirdly, the increase in interest in the UK started around 2009, just at the time of the credit crunch and the financial recession. 

Surely you would think that rising unemployment would coincide with less people getting married and proposing? That was the global trend, but for some reason the UK is different. 

So the big question is why?

Honestly, I've gone around the houses on this one. I remember a training course I once went on with a journalist which was saying how easy it is to use statistics to back up your own beliefs or create your own story. The example given was that there were some new stats coming out about levels of alcohol sales during the global recession.

The journalist admitted that he could link an increase or a decrease to the recession. He could argue that sales went up because everyone was drowning their sorrows, or they went down because no-one had any money to spend on beer. 

The reality is that sales might not actually be linked to the recession and there might be some other reason for sales going up or down.

One conclusion that I've come to is that it might be something to do with British shoppers becoming more frugal. As the recession started, there was a big increase in people searching for 'cheap engagement rings'. Could it be that people were still falling in love, and wanting to commit to marriage, but they could no longer afford to spend £2000 on a diamond ring in the high street and were instead looking to get engaged on a budget of £200 with a ring they bought online?

I'd say that theory is certainly possible, but why would it just be British men that followed that pattern during a global recession?

Honestly, I'm still mulling this one over. If you've got any thoughts, get in touch. In the meantime, if you are one of the increasing number of British men looking for cheap engagement rings, I'll point you towards our guide to retailers!


Comments are closed.

    Author

    A bargain hunter's thoughts on buying diamond engagement rings without bankrupting yourself

    This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it.

    Archives

    November 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016

Buying Guides

Best retailers
Unusual rings
Beginners' guide
Saving money
Expensive rings
Wedding bands
Conflict-free
Gemstones
​Second hand
​Cheap weddings
​Diamond FAQ

Shop by budget

£50 rings
£100 rings
£200 rings
£300 rings
£500 rings
£1000 rings

Shop by carat

0.25 carat
1 carat
2 carat

About

About us
Press/PR
Blog
​Privacy policy
​Disclaimer
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. However, we maintain full editorial control and only recommend based on merit rather than whether they offer commission.
​© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.