Studies

Consumer Reports has decided to get into the love game. The non-profit organization has been around since 1936, and typically reviews consumer satisfaction with products and services, but now it wants to know about dating apps, and how satisfied customers appear to be.

We all know where this is going. Well, maybe not.

Consumer Reports found two interesting and diametrically opposed results. First, consumers hate online dating with a passion, even more than tech support services, which are notoriously poor performers. Those surveyed didn’t rate any service as more than average as far as overall satisfaction. OkCupid got the best ratings of all online dating services, including Tinder, but it got a reader score of only 56. (Tinder was second with a 52 rating.) Reader scores were evaluated by a number of factors, including messaging and search features, privacy settings, the ease of use and sign-up process, as well as quality and quantity of matches.

Do you have a “wish list” for a future romantic partner? For instance, do you have a preference for height, career, body type, or whether or not your match is into yoga? Most of us do have a wish list for an ideal partner, but a new study shows that we tend to ditch those lists when we go searching for matches online.

Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology analyzed the dating preferences and contact behavior of more than 41,000 Australians between 18-80 on dating website RSVP. What they found was that despite the fact that most online daters have a clear list of preferences for their ideal partners, they still contacted people who bore no resemblance to these preferences. The study was conducted by behavioural economists Stephen Whyte and Professor Benno Torgler.

In time for Valentine’s Day, online dating service Match released its seventh annual Singles in America study, the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind.

This year’s focus was a little different from previous studies, exploring new dating rituals, shifting gender roles, and the impact social media has had on the dating culture.

First, thanks to mobile apps and the accessibility of online dating, almost one in six singles (15%) of those surveyed by Match feel addicted to the process of looking for a date. Millennials are 125% more likely to say they feel addicted to dating than older generations. And men are 97% more likely to feel addicted to dating than women – although more women feel more burned out by the process (54%).

In an era so steeped in dating app culture, users are finding increasingly inventive ways to swipe. Gone are the days when these apps were just about meeting a mate - today they’re used for everything from connecting with business partners to finding tour guides while traveling.

In the latter case, singles update their location in the app, then post a note explaining that they’re visiting and looking to meet locals who are interested in showing them around (what happens after the tour… well… that’s anyone’s guess). It can be a great way to immerse yourself in a destination, but according to a new report, it may be safer in some states than others.

The report by highspeedinternet.com and home security company Safewise used the FBI’s most recent crime data, plus STD rates from the Centers for Disease Control, to rank all 50 U.S. states and D.C. according to safety for online daters.

It’s no secret that online daters place a lot of importance on how their potential dates look, swiping left and right based on profile pictures. As it turns out, beauty is only part of the equation. Smarts count, too. For many online daters, the level of education you’ve attained matters – as long as it matches theirs.

A recent study by Queensland University of Technology found that online daters tend to select partners who have completed the same level of formal education; in other words, like attracts like.

Researchers studied the interactions of almost 42,000 online daters from Australia with a large age range, from 18 to 80. They gathered data from participants using the dating site RSVP.com during a four-month period in 2016.

Do you typically meet a first date for coffee or drinks, not wanting to commit to anything more until you know you hit it off?

Turns out this might not be the best strategy for finding love. Dating app Coffee Meets Bagel recently surveyed more than 1,000 couples who met through its app to see what made their first date so successful. The company then surveyed more than 6,000 singles to compare their thoughts about first dates, and found they don’t often agree. Here’s what we can learn.

Following are nine findings that increase your chance of first date success: