Online Dating
Online dating: I'd say at least 80% of people I know around my age and younger are either doing it, or have done it. It's The Economist's feature topic this week (article linked below), and I would strongly recommend anyone who's a user but maybe hasn't considered the dynamics or the statistics behind this, to give it a read (and there are plenty of more in-depth books on this topic).
A few thoughts on the economics of online dating:
1. The article touched on this - but it seems it is against the interests of the companies providing these services to you for you to actually find a good match. At that point, you stop contributing to their revenue. There is so much individual interest to find love, and people are willing to spend a lot of money on it - I'm a shareholder of Match Group, and their shares are skyrocketing. It seems with dating apps it's the same dynamic as in the healthcare industry, where the financial incentive for a company would be to keep medicating you, as opposed to curing you.
2. As a corollary to (1) - for anyone familiar with loot-boxes in video gaming, Tinder and similar offerings are set up the same way. You go through a "swiping session" rejecting some common items, perhaps intrigued by some rares, interested in a few epics, all the while trying to find a legendary. I'm not really being facetious, the loot-box is a proven concept to keep people engaged and returning.
3. It seems to me there's an opportunity for companies involved in the dating space to offer a "pay-for-cure" type of system that many drug makers use. You pay a premium for the drug, but only if the cure for you is successful - this serves to align the interest of the patient and the pharmaceutical company. I'm sure someone will be offering something similar sooner than later.
4. The statistics prove it - most of us try to find and match up with someone a little bit better than ourselves (article says 25%, but I don't know what exactly they're measuring). Won't get into the psychology behind it, but it's just so important sometimes to be able to see yourself through someone else's eyes! This is true regardless of whether you're looking for a relationship or not, and goes far beyond dating!
If anyone has any thoughts on this topic (aside from general "dating sucks"), I would love to discuss.
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/08/18/how-the-internet-has-changed-dating
A few thoughts on the economics of online dating:
1. The article touched on this - but it seems it is against the interests of the companies providing these services to you for you to actually find a good match. At that point, you stop contributing to their revenue. There is so much individual interest to find love, and people are willing to spend a lot of money on it - I'm a shareholder of Match Group, and their shares are skyrocketing. It seems with dating apps it's the same dynamic as in the healthcare industry, where the financial incentive for a company would be to keep medicating you, as opposed to curing you.
2. As a corollary to (1) - for anyone familiar with loot-boxes in video gaming, Tinder and similar offerings are set up the same way. You go through a "swiping session" rejecting some common items, perhaps intrigued by some rares, interested in a few epics, all the while trying to find a legendary. I'm not really being facetious, the loot-box is a proven concept to keep people engaged and returning.
3. It seems to me there's an opportunity for companies involved in the dating space to offer a "pay-for-cure" type of system that many drug makers use. You pay a premium for the drug, but only if the cure for you is successful - this serves to align the interest of the patient and the pharmaceutical company. I'm sure someone will be offering something similar sooner than later.
4. The statistics prove it - most of us try to find and match up with someone a little bit better than ourselves (article says 25%, but I don't know what exactly they're measuring). Won't get into the psychology behind it, but it's just so important sometimes to be able to see yourself through someone else's eyes! This is true regardless of whether you're looking for a relationship or not, and goes far beyond dating!
If anyone has any thoughts on this topic (aside from general "dating sucks"), I would love to discuss.
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/08/18/how-the-internet-has-changed-dating
Comments
Post a Comment