RATIONALE

DISCUSSION

Love Me Tinder or MisMatch.com: Free versus Paid Online Dating Sites Emily Grom & Darren Ritzer, Ph.D.

Winthrop University

According to Nielson, an audience tracking firm, in 2009, online dating websites had 27.5 million unique visitors in one month. This is twice as many people who visited job-placement websites during the same period, which coincided with the recession (Comstock, 2009). Nearly 50 million individuals in the United States have used an online dating website or app, making it a $1.8 billion industry (Statistic Brain, 2015). There was an increase of 53% of single individuals using online dating sites or apps from 2005 to 2014 (Smith, 2014). Recent research shows that online dating is changing society in more profound ways than we imagine by embracing pretty much every demographic and allowing anyone—young, old, straight, gay, and even married—to search for exactly what they want and connect with more people (Slater, 2013).

Participants were 221 Adult Americans ranging in age from 18 to 61, with a mean age of 24.96 (SD = 8.932). •  78% female, 22% male •  53% used online dating websites or apps

PARTICIPANTS

From a purely marketing perspective, a better understanding of the expectations and characteristics of users could be quite valuable. Knowing that the expectations for more serious, long lasting relationships are higher for paid dating sites has implications for site design, marketing, and advertising. Likewise, given the more casual expectations for free dating sites, a more light-hearted approach might speak to potential users.

RESULTSFifty-three percent of participants had used online dating websites or apps. The main hypothesis was supported—the expectations of free versus paid dating sites were different. For free sites, 64% of participants expected to see their dating options and then date as many people as possible. Only 28% of people expected to meet their perfect match on a free site. Six percent of participants who used free sites expected to only hook up once. For participants who used paid sites, the expectations of finding a perfect match were much higher—60% of paid sites users expected to meet their perfect match and less than 1% expected to just hook up once. The more free sites an individual used, the more frequently that individual reported engaging in risky behaviors, such as drinking and having unprotected sex [r(55) = .31, p < .05]. More men used free dating websites or apps than women [t(109) = 2.49, p < .05]. There was a significant positive correlation between age and number of paid sites used, with older participants reporting having used a higher number of paid sites in the past [r(99) = .25, p < .05]. The more frequently a person engaged in risky behavior, •  The less likely they were to prefer a partner who didn’t

want to sleep together on the first date [r(92) = -.214, p < .05]

•  The less likely they were to prefer a partner who was mature [r(92) = -.252, p < .05]

•  The less likely they were to prefer a partner who showed affection [r(92) = -.230, p < .05]

•  The more likely they were to prefer a partner who was good in bed [r(92) = .292, p < .01]

In sum, we found that people who were not necessarily seeking long-term relationships were more likely to use free sites and these users engaged in more risky behavior.

METHODSParticipants were recruited from college classes, social media, and other online postings. They responded to an online survey that measured dating site usage, ideal partner characteristics (adapted from Boyes, 2013), and risk taking. Our study assessed the expectations of people who chose to use free dating sites versus dating sites that required a fee. We also measured individual characteristics of participants to better define profiles of dating site users. We hypothesized that individuals who used free dating websites would be more likely to prefer casual relationships (i.e., “hooking up”) to a committed relationship.

Figure 1. Participants who used free sites, intended to date many people whereas participants who used paid sites, intended to find a perfect match to date.

n =111 n = 99