Does Online Dating Promotion Vary Across Cultures? A Cross-cultural Analysis of Homepage Advertisements of Online Dating Services in 51 Countries

Abstract

This study extends our understanding of the influence of culture on advertising within the novel context of online dating. People around the world have come to depend on online dating services (ODSs) to participate in the dating process. Since the norms and expectations of dating are influenced by a country’s cultural values, we expect ODSs to adapt their advertising messages to be congruent with these values. Using the Pollay–Hofstede framework, we examine the relationship between advertising appeals used by 1,003 ODSs from 51 countries and the cultural dimensions of these countries. Results showed that ODS advertisements appealed to people’s need for relationship, friendship, entertainment, sex, status, design and identity. The use of these appeals was congruent with only the individualism/collectivism and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions. Based on these results, we argue that ODS’s overwhelming use of culturally incongruent advertising messages can lead to a global transformation and homogenisation of the dating culture.

The Bumble motivations framework- exploring a dating App's uses by emerging adults in India

“…Interestingly, psychosocial motivations like casual sex and one-night stands did not emerge as significant themes in the factor analysis. This finding underscores the influence of cultural differences [ 28 , 34 ] on online dating behaviours. According to Ref.…”

“…found that those users who sought to gratify their physical needs met their dating partners and had casual sex more frequently than those who were not motivated to use dating apps for physical gratification. However, results from collectivistic and Asian countries paint a slightly different picture of the motivations and outcomes of dating app usage [ 28 ]. Prior research in China, Japan, and Korea has shown that people use dating apps mainly for relationship-seeking and socialisation motivations [ 36 ];[ 89 ].…”

“…Second, LBRTD applications like Bumble have been suggested to positively and negatively affect emerging adults' social, psychological, romantic, and sexual lives [ 24 , 25 ]. For example, nowadays, dating applications help in potential matchmaking that can lead to long relationships like marriage [ [26] , [27] , [28] ]. On the other hand, dating applications can affect one's life in an undesirable way, such as sexual harassment and bullying [ [29] , [30] , [31] ] and vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…Lastly, most of the literature on dating apps is from either the United States or western countries, limiting their external validity. Scholars observed cross-cultural differences influence dating norms, particularly individualism, and collectivism [ 28 , 34 ]. They have argued that individualistic and collectivistic cultures influence people's interpretation of love and intimacy [ 35 ].…”

Seeking Soulmate via Voice: Understanding Promises and Challenges of Online Synchronized Voice-Based Mobile Dating

“…Individualism and collectivism cultures can influence user perceptions and behaviors towards online dating [42]. In a country characterized by a collectivistic culture, the nature of such cultures tends to favor shared activities, such as livestreaming, over solitary ones [36][37][38].…”