IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2101-d1045292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Willingness to Pay for a Dating App: Psychological Correlates

Author

Listed:
  • Lucien Rochat

    (UniDistance Suisse, Faculty of Psychology, Schinerstrasse 18, 3900 Brig, Switzerland
    ReConnecte Treatment Centre, Addiction Division, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue du Grand-Pré 70C, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Elena Orita

    (Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Lausanne University, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Emilien Jeannot

    (Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and Lausanne University, Bugnon 23 a, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Chemin de Mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Sophia Achab

    (ReConnecte Treatment Centre, Addiction Division, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue du Grand-Pré 70C, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
    Clinical and Sociological Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Yasser Khazaal

    (Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and Lausanne University, Bugnon 23 a, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada)

Abstract

The smartphone dating app, Tinder, has become hugely popular in recent years. Although most people use a free version of the app, some pay for an augmented version to improve their experience. However, there is little evidence of the association between the willingness to pay for a dating app such as Tinder and users’ psychological characteristics. This study thus aims to compare Tinder paying versus non-paying users in terms of their pattern of use, excessive use of Tinder, motives for using Tinder, impulsivity traits, depressive mood, and sociodemographic variables, as well as to examine which variables best predict group membership. A total of 1159 Tinder users participated in an online survey. Group comparisons indicated that payers were more frequently male, reported greater motives for using Tinder than non-payers, and differed in their pattern of use compared with non-payers. Impulsivity traits did not significantly differ between the two groups. Being male and reporting greater motives for Tinder use significantly predicted being a payer. These findings provide insights into the processes that stimulate users’ greater consumption of online dating apps, such as reinforcement mechanisms and reward sensitivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucien Rochat & Elena Orita & Emilien Jeannot & Sophia Achab & Yasser Khazaal, 2023. "Willingness to Pay for a Dating App: Psychological Correlates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2101-:d:1045292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2101/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2101/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ángel Castro & Juan Ramón Barrada, 2020. "Dating Apps and Their Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Correlates: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-25, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan Ramón Barrada & Ángel Castro, 2020. "Tinder Users: Sociodemographic, Psychological, and Psychosexual Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Magdalena Liberacka-Dwojak & Yasser Khazaal & Monika Wiłkość-Dębczyńska & Daria Kukuła & Anna Chechłowska & Aleksandra Kozłowska & Nikola Przywitowska & Emilien Jeannot, 2023. "Validation of the Polish Problematic Tinder Use Scale and Its Relationship with Safe Sex Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, February.
    3. Vikram Kapoor & Russell Belk, 2022. "‘Pressure creates diamonds’/‘fire refines gold’: Conceptualizing coping capital," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 12(3), pages 196-215, December.
    4. Anna Pawlikowska & Ewa Szuster & Paulina Kostrzewska & Amanda Mandera & Małgorzata Biernikiewicz & Małgorzata Sobieszczańska & Krystyna Rożek-Piechura & Monika Markiewicz & Agnieszka Rusiecka & Darius, 2022. "Internet Addiction and Polish Women’s Sexual Functioning: The Role of Social Media, Online Pornography, and Game Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Online Surveys Based on FSFI and BSMAS Questionnaires," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-9, July.
    5. Juan Hoyos & Tomás Maté & Juan-Miguel Guerras & Marta Donat & Cristina Agustí & Matthias Kuske & Ricardo Fuertes & Sophocles Chanos & Francois Pichon & Luis Sordo & José Pulido & María-José Belza & on, 2021. "Preference towards HIV Self-Testing above Other Testing Options in a Sample of Men Who Have Sex with Men from Five European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2101-:d:1045292. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.