Doing things alone is on the rise, and businesses should pay more attention to that – even on Valentine’s Day

Every February, Valentine’s Day reinforces what single people already know: that public life is built for two. Restaurants are introducing set menus for couples. Hotels are promoting “romantic getaway” packages designed for double occupancy. A table for one still begs the question, “Just you?”

Yet there is an irony that is hard to miss. While Valentine’s Day emphasizes solidarity, more and more adults are living alone – and traveling the world.

As a behavioral economist, I study what I call “solo economics.” An increasing part of economic life today is organized around people who live independently, spend money and make decisions.

Single-person households are not outliers

Half of American adults are unmarried, and single-person households are now the most common living arrangement in the country. This is not a temporary phase limited to young adults waiting to settle down. It includes never-married professionals, divorced empty nesters, widows and widowers, and people who simply prefer to live independently.

Lifelong singleness is also increasing: 25% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z are expected to never marry.

It is a slow-moving demographic shift, away from long-term partnership as the dominant life path for adults, but a consequential one – reshaping everything from housing and travel to social policy and trade. One of the clearest expressions of it is the number of people who only do things in public.

The rise of public solo life

It would be one thing if the economy was built for two and solos stayed home. But they go to museums, travel and of course dine alone in restaurants. To assess this behavior, I surveyed single and married Americans about their participation in 25 activities that take place in public – from shopping and dining to attending movies and concerts.

The pattern was striking. Overall, single people were much more likely to do things alone in public than their married counterparts: 56% versus 39%. The difference in every activity I measured.

The biggest gaps were not for practical tasks such as grocery shopping. They were intended for leisure activities, such as going to the movies, eating out and attending concerts. In fact, seven of the ten biggest differences had to do with shopping or entertainment – ​​the very places most designed and marketed with couples in mind.

Prejudices that keep people from having fun alone

Why hasn’t the business world paid more attention to the singles market?

The answer lies in psychology. Part of the reluctance comes from the belief that other customers will perceive individual diners or moviegoers as sad or lonely. These fears are amplified by what psychologists call the spotlight effect: our tendency to overestimate how much other people notice and judge us.

Findings from consumer researchers Rebecca Hamilton and Rebecca Ratner may help explain why this bias is so persistent. Studies in the US, China and India show that people consistently predict that they would enjoy activities less if they were doing them alone – even if they saw the same movie or visited the same museum.

But when people actually went alone, they enjoyed the experience just as much as those who went with others. The fear, it turns out, is largely imaginary.

Another problem is that solo consumers do not always feel welcome.

As behavior changes, markets are slower to adapt. Most companies still design experiences around couples, families, or groups. Consider restaurants that allow solo diners to sit at the bar or near the kitchen or bathroom, or ticketing systems that require purchases in pairs. The result is friction for individual consumers – and missed opportunities for businesses.

Valentine’s Day promotions make that mismatch extra visible. In 2024, IKEA Canada offered a Valentine’s Day dining experience in the showroom, priced and designed for two – and two only – people.

After backlash, the company revised the promotion the following year to be more inclusive: “Bring a loved one, a close friend, or the whole family.” It was a small change, but a revealing one.

Why solo shoppers have outsized influence

Solo consumers represent a large, growing and profitable market segment, but are navigating a market that still treats them as edge cases.

Another study that Ratner conducted with business school professor Yuechen Wu adds an important twist.

Analyzes of more than 14,000 Tripadvisor reviews of restaurants and museums show that reviews written by solo diners and solo museum visitors are rated as more helpful – and receive more positive feedback – than reviews written by people who went with others.

Follow-up experiments found that when otherwise identical recommendations differed only in whether the reviewer experienced the activity alone or with others, respondents were more likely to rely on the solo reviewer when deciding what to do.

Why? Observers conclude that people who go alone are genuinely interested in the experience and more focused on its quality, rather than simply going along with someone else’s preferences.

Being alone, it turns out, functions as a credibility signal. For companies, this means that individual customers are not just customers, but can be very influential customers.

Designs for 1 in Asia

Asian companies are far ahead of the West when it comes to recognizing the purchasing power of people who do things on their own.

In South Korea, for example, “honjok,” which translates as “lonely tribe,” culture has fueled products and services explicitly designed for solo living. Think one-off meals at convenience stores, single-person karaoke booths and restaurants that promise judgment-free service.

Similarly, ramen chain Ichiran in Japan has built its brand around the idea of ​​”flavor concentration,” which encourages diners to eat alone in private booths.

Officially, the design is intended to eliminate distractions and enhance the dining experience. In practice, it does something more important: it legitimizes solo dining.

Progress in the US

In the U.S., Disney theme parks and some of the company’s competitors have long used single-rider lines that reward solo visitors with shorter wait times, turning independence into operational efficiency — a logic that ski resorts adopted decades ago to fill empty chairlift seats.

And solo tourism has become a major trend. Demand is growing and tour operators are adapting their offerings to meet it, including specialized tours for singles and adjustments to historically unaffordable pricing practices.

Industry analysis also shows that the global solo travel market is developing rapidly, with tailor-made products and experiences emerging globally. Some companies now offer special solo travel collections with no one-time supplement (the extra fee traditionally charged to travelers occupying a room alone) and tours designed specifically for independent travelers.

Doing things alone is an opportunity

Valentine’s Day offers an opportunity to see how outdated many widely held assumptions still are.

It treats loneliness as a problem to be solved, even if people’s behavior tells a different story. Yet corporations, policymakers, and American culture in general have not designed a world that fully recognizes that approximately 42% of American adults are single.

In the meantime, singles are not waiting at home. They are out there – in the cinema, on planes, in museums and restaurants – moving through public life on their own terms.

Valentine’s Day can always be built for two. But the economy won’t be.