Studiet analyserer data fra en stor online datingplatform for at afdække brugernes mate-præferencer. Der findes ikke store forskelle mellem brugerens demografiske karakteristika og befolkningen generelt. Resultaterne viser, at kvinders valg i høj grad påvirkes af mænds indkomst og uddannelse, mens mænds valg primært styres af fysisk tiltrækning i den indledende datingfase.
Titel på undersøgelse:
What Makes You Click? An Empirical Analysis of Online Dating.
| |
Hele abstrakt på originalsprog:
We utilize a unique data set obtained from a major online dating site to draw econometric inferences on revealed mate preferences of the site users. We first compare the reported demographic characteristics of site users to the characteristics of the population-at-large, and do not find large differences. We then investigate several behavioral models that allow us to interpret the observed browsing and e-mailing behavior of site users in a revealed preference framework. Our empirical results indicate, in particular, that while women’s choices depend strongly on the income and education of men, the choices of men appear to be driven much more by physical appearance at this initial “dating” stage of the marriage market. We also find evidence in observed “matches”(defined as the exchange of personal contact information between two site users) that corroborates this finding.