In the long run, a positive experience for this segment matters. They’re not there to match with as many people as possible. If they’re not having their ‘‘ideal” experience, they’ll likely quit the app or switch to another brand.
There are different types of people in this segment. Regardless, they all want to lusement and, at times, join the ‘‘dating market” for the first time in a while.
Some are taking the first steps to put themselves out there (after going through a breakup, being single for a while, experiencing the death of a partner, as well as seeing friends going on dates and desiring to go too), looking forward to enjoying dating or even to create a connection with someone as a friend.
Others simply want to enjoy the dating experience, the thrill of sending an opening text and seeing how the recipient reacts
They want to distract themselves from the hardships of Covid, or life in general, and find dating apps a great source for it. It’s all about feeling amused, entertained, and sometimes, about turning the swiping experience into a social event with housemates.
One way Tinder has been successful in adhering to this fun user experience strategy has been through the way the brand presents itself on social media. They post memes and videos (even partnering up with Award Winner singer Megan Thee Stallion) to claim that, by downloading the app, users will spend their time on something that brings them joy and makes them laugh.
App companies should watch out for user experience (make sure people come back because they fully enjoy the app, the sense of humor of whoever they match – brands can use curated matches to provide this – and the feeling of being distracted from the hardships of reality whenever in the app, perhaps by providing free games whenever users match) to keep consumers’ interest. As an example, people wrote on social media:
Sometimes, the issue comes down to boring conversations with unsuitable people. ‘‘I’ve found that regardless of the questions being boring or not, most women just want to sit there and have the questions asked to them instead of genuinely reciprocating. That can get old fast and it will make me lose interest in continuing the conversation since it seems like most of the burden is placed on me.”
Some apps prefer to restrict people’s matches; Badoo and Coffee Meets Bagel, for instance, provide a curated selection of potential dates, compatible with the user’s taste
There are many ways to be entertained during Covid-19: online yoga classes, watching makeup tutorials on social media, picking up new skills through free resources, following YouTube exercise tutorials, so it’s no surprise that people’s attention spans are dwindling even more so now. We have greater choices today but our ability to focus is getting increasingly challenged.
These people’s expectations (%) are not being met and therefore, they’re either about to give up on online dating or they are lacking the willingness needed to continue their search for love.
One way brands can encourage their success, is by providing them with the confidence to face the new obstacles in the dating world (‘‘ghosting”, ‘‘zombieing”, ‘‘breadcrumbing”, ‘‘cricketing”, ‘‘fauxbae’ing” and much more). The apps can remind users why it’s important to allow personal vulnerability. Some brands already adopted this approach to meet consumers’ demand for greater confidence and guidance.
Another alternative can be encouraging users to ‘‘date meaningfully”. This helps users to have a better experience, match with more compatible people and avoid endlessly swiping.