A study published by Business Wire, citing a US survey (online, SurveyMonkey; men and women aged 22-40), showed that 69% of American men believe that the fear of being considered “creepy” (terrible, repulsive) affects how they interact with women, and 44% of men said that this fear reduces the likelihood of such interactions.
At the same time, some media outlets, discussing anxiety when meeting in person, cite data suggesting that women’s demand for offline dating may be higher than men assume: one such report states that 77% of women aged 18-30 would like men to meet more often in real life (68% of women aged 30+ are also mentioned).
According to Euromonitor International, in 2022 16% of global internet connected consumers visited online dating or matchmaking website at least weekly. Males are more frequent online dating websites’ visitors. 1 in 6 men globally report doing it at least weekly compared to 1 in 7 women saying the same. In comparison to the data from the year of pandemic start there is a considerable increase in amount of people frequently visiting online dating sites – from 12% in 2019 to 16% in 2022 visiting at least weekly with noticeable regional differences:
– Asia Pacific: from 12% at least weekly in 2019 to 17% in 2022
– Europe: from 10% in 2019 to 13% in 2022
– North America: from 10% in 2019 to 13% in 2022
– Middle East and Africa: from 14% in 2019 to 25% in 2022
– Millennials and Baby Boomers are the most frequent users of online dating websites with 1 in 6 millennials and 1 in 7 baby boomers visiting them at least weekly
– Baby Boomers adapted online dating most rapidly during the pandemic – 78% said that they had never visited online dating websites in 2019 while only 68% said the same in 2022
Ruta Sventickyte, Survey Analyst – Euromonitor International:
“The search for romance is rapidly moving online, particularly in a post-pandemic world where consumers of all ages have integrated digital interactions into many aspects of life. Visiting online dating or matchmaking websites is becoming increasingly popular globally. In regions where strict pandemic restrictions were applied for the longest period of time (Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa) we see an even more pronounced increase in the frequency of online dating websites visits. With more people visiting these websites at least weekly, we also see a drop in people who report never doing so too.”
Source: Euromonitor International Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyle Survey, fielded January to February 2022, n=39,832.
