(Online Dating Industry Journal) A study titled "Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates" is addressing some of the major failures with online dating services, particularly when it comes to attributes people want to search for versus attributes the online dating service targets in profiles.
From the study:
"We suggest that the failure of online dating sites to live up to user expectations is due in part to a fundamental gap between the kinds of information people both want and need to determine whether someone is a good romantic match and the kind of information available on online dating profiles... Most online dating sites use a 'shopping' interface like that used by other commercial sites, in which people are classified much like any commodity, by different searchable attributes (e.g., height, weight, income), which can be filtered in any way the shopper desires (see Bellman, Johnson, Lohse, & Mandel, 2006). Because determining whether or not one likes someone romantically requires subjective knowledge about experiential attributes such as rapport or sense of humor, it is perhaps not surprising that online daters might be disappointed when they are forced to screen potential partners using objective searchable attributes such as income and religion..."
The research paper, which you can read here, was conducted by Jeana H. Frost, Zoe Chance, Michael I. Norton, and Dan Ariely.
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