(Assortment) Size Matters: Choice Overload in Online Dating Decision Making

• In Event: Online Dating and Relationships

Abstract

Today’s popular online dating websites often contain different forms of online dating technology: delegated agents make use of algorithms that provide daters’ with machine-made choices while decision aids provide filters that help daters narrow down the dating pool to a more manageable number. Adopting the choice overload framework, we examined the factors that contribute to daters’ willingness to adopt online dating decision technology. An experiment involving 130 participants tested how differences in (a) choice set size and (b) profile information attributes affected online daters’ perceptions of overload and how overload, in turn, affected participants’ willingness to adopt both forms of decision making technology. Individuals’ need for cognition was also shown to moderate direct and indirect effects of the external factors. Results shed light on the specific factors that affect perceptions of overchoice in online dating, and how such perceptions prompt daters to cede control to machines during mediated mate selection.

Authors

• Stephanie Tom Tong, Wayne State U

• Elena Francesca Corriero, Wayne State U

• Robert Matheny, Wayne State U

• Jeff Hancock

• Richard B. Slatcher, Wayne State U

• Annisa Rochadiat, Wayne State U

• Rachelle Prince, Wayne State U

• Prathyusha Tadi, Wayne State U

• Allison Elam, Wayne State U

• Kunto Adi Wibowo

• William Cooper, Wayne State U