Some 45% of consumers plan to buy candy for Valentine's Day

Here's a telltale sign that the economy hasn't snapped back: Anticipated spending for Valentine's Day is lower this year than it was last year, when the recession was looking particularly bleak. A survey by Brand Keys finds respondents expecting to shell out an average of $103 this year, down 5 percent from last year's figure. Men plan on spending $133 for the occasion; women expect to spend $72.

Cards are the most popular category, with 85 percent of respondents planning to buy one (or more). Other categories on which many people expect to spend are dinner/entertainment events (58 percent), gift cards (55 percent), flowers (45 percent) and candy (45 percent).

Fewer will be buying jewelry (15 percent), stuffed animals/balloons (10 percent), perfume/cologne (10 percent), lingerie/clothes (10 percent) or books/CDs/DVDs (5 percent).

Of course, whatever people buy for Valentine's Day, not all the gift purchases are entirely voluntary. In an Ipsos Public Affairs poll conducted for sleepbetter.org, 10 percent of respondents agreed "strongly" and 11 percent "somewhat" with the statement, "I purchase Valentine's Day gifts for my partner because I feel like I have to do so to not get in trouble." There was an unsurprising gender gap in the responses here, with 31 percent of the men agreeing (including 14 percent "strongly"), vs. 10 percent of the women (5 percent "strongly").

Thirty-nine percent of the Ipsos respondents agreed that "Valentine's Day is very important in my relationship." But that's not necessarily a good thing, as 9 percent (12 percent of men, 7 percent of women) agreed that "Valentine's Day is a stress on my relationship."

Still, the Brand Keys survey offered an indication that the holiday will not be a major disappointment: The proportion of men who expect to celebrate the occasion by having sex is matched exactly by the proportion of women who have the same idea (25 percent each).