Key findings:
Singles who embrace the mobile revolution and use their phones for dating are winning big in the love stakes, according to research released today by match.com.
Those who use mobile apps to help them meet new people go on an average of 11 more dates each year (43) than other singles (32). 39% of app users also believed that they date more than they otherwise would thanks to their mobiles, while 12% think their use of a dating app has meant they have a more active sex life.
And it seems that the adoption of this new technology may be changing the way Britons date altogether. The UK has traditionally been resistant to the practice of ‘multi-dating’ (going on first dates with more than one person at any one time) which is commonplace in the US. Yet more than half of mobile daters now say that they multi-date (52%), compared to less than a quarter of other singles (24%).
Over the past year, dating on the move has exploded in popularity, with match.com seeing traffic from mobile almost double in just eight months. British daters are more likely to use their mobile than any other European nation, with 60% of match members now using their handsets to find a date. Sunday is the most popular day of the week for mobile dating, accounting for almost one fifth (19%) of weekly activity on match.com.
Such is the ease with which dating apps now allow singles to find dates, almost one in 20 users said they had dated more than one person in a single day since they started using an app. Mobile daters typically check-in more than seven times a day to get an update on their matches, and contact almost twice as many potential dates in the average week compared to those who use more traditional methods (11 per week for app users, versus 6 for other singles). More than a third (34%) admit to browsing dating apps at work, while a similar number (30%) said they do so whilst on the toilet. However, the most common places to look for dates remained the sofa (70%) or in bed (45%).
Kate Taylor, relationship expert for match.com, comments: “Mobile technology makes the search for love easier than it’s ever been before. Now you can contact potential partners wherever you are, and be able to respond to messages 24/7. This means you don’t have to wait to hear back from someone you like.
“Mobile dating is great when you work long hours or don’t get the chance to meet many singles in your everyday life, as it means you’re never more than a click away from thousands of fellow singles. In today’s world, Cupid no longer uses a bow and arrow – he uses an app.”
match.com’s mobile app is available to download free from the App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone.
ENDS
Notes to editors
For further information or interviews with match.com’s experts please contact match@brands2life.com
About the match.com mobile app
The mobile app has been designed to be a quick and easy way to communicate with members on the go. Features include ‘Shuffle’ technology which enables members to quickly move between profiles. If two people ‘like’ each other they are added to a members favourites and can choose to message each other. From autumn, members will also be able to sign up to match.com Events via the app.
About the research
Research conducted by OnePoll between 3rd and 17th September 2014. Survey polled XXXX singles who are actively dating, XXX of whom use a mobile dating app.