Nervous About Popping the Question on Valentine's Day? Interflora's Love Machine can Give you the Answer Before you ask

SLEAFORD, England, February 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

With Valentine's Day on the horizon and Leap Day not far behind, thoughts are turning to marriage proposals. It's one of the most nerve-wracking questions to ask and this year both men and women will be biting their nails as they ponder whether they'll get the thumbs up from their partner.

With this in mind, Interflora has created the Love Machine, a clever Facebook app, to give those in love an idea of whether their partner will give them a resounding 'yes' or will be staring at the carpet and quietly muttering 'no'.

By answering a set of simple questions, would-be spouses will get a percentage likelihood of their partner saying yes and so will have an idea if it's a sure thing or if they need to up the ante in the romance stakes.

To build the Love Machine, Interflora polled 3,000 men and women in a relationship but not married to find out what makes Britons tick in the love stakes.

The results were truly revealing and enlightening…

• Women are more likely to say yes when proposed to (70% for women against 63% for men)

• East Anglia and Scotland are the regions where BOTH men and women are most likely to want to settle down, whereas would-be spouses in the North East are most likely to say no

• Figures suggest the seven-year itch may now be the nine-year itch - the chances of getting a yes rise year on year until women reach the nine-year milestone and men the 10-year barrier

• In the first year of a relationship, women are 12% more likely than men to say yes

• Men and women are both more likely to say yes if they have a child together

• Women are reluctant when it comes to step-parenting and are less likely to say yes if their partner has a child from a previous relationship

• The most romantic professions would seem to be finance (with a yes from 79% of women and 77% of men), retail (women 78%, men 73%) and education (women 78%, men 72%) where both men and women are the most likely to say yes

• Men in the media or publishing are least likely (67%) to want to relinquish their freedom

• Foodies are keen to tie the knot, with men and women who are into fine dining and cooking more likely to say yes than those who enjoy cycling, gardening and tennis. Sadly for fans of swimming or dancing, their partners are less likely to want to commit

• Previous experience of marriage is a positive for men, with 73% of those who have been married before saying they would happily do it again, while only 62% who have never been married being willing to take the plunge. The same isn't true for women - 70% who have never been married say they would say yes, but the figure drops to 67% if they have been previously married

• Couples who jointly own a pet together are likely to want to marry, with 80% stating they'd say yes. Those who have differing attitudes to pet ownership (with one owning a pet, but the other not) are far less likely to want to be married with the figure dropping to 50% or below. Couples who jointly own a fish, cat or rabbit are the keenest to get hitched - 85%, 83% and 81% respectively.

So, the answer is clear… Move to Suffolk, buy a fish and get a career in finance and you'll find true love lasts forever!

Try the Interflora Love Machine app for yourself on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/interfloratheflowerexperts

Notes to editors

The Interflora Love Machine app will be live on Facebook from February 1.

The survey took place in January 2012. The full findings of the survey and images are available.

An Interflora spokesperson is available for interview.