(Image Source; Kate Ter Haar)
Here are the economic dynamics you should be aware of, and how to respond to make your online dating experience a positive one.
Imagine the users of an online dating site plotted on a supply and demand graph. The age runs along the x-axis, and the number of people along the y-axis. Now draw a line plotting the number of female singles per age, and a second line for the men. Some online dating sites publish this data, but for others you will need to make an educated guess.
Now look at the discrepancy between the position you occupy on your gender curve, and the curve of the age and sex you are searching for. This gives you an indication of how abundant singles in your target demographic are. If it looks like the pickings are slim, you may need to expand to a more plentiful age group.
Making a decision based on the average information or experience the decision-maker has had with the group a person belongs to is statistical discrimination. This is commonly used in insurance underwriting, where pricing decisions are made based on the group to which the driver belongs, rather than the individual characteristics of the driver themselves. For example, statistics show that on average teenage boys result in more expensive insurance payouts, so statistical discrimination dictates that any driver belonging to this demographic will pay a higher premium.
Statistical discrimination is most commonly used in the absence of more detailed information.
When browsing through online profiles, you will be applying statistical discrimination whether you realise it or not. If your personal experience of horse owners is that they are the fun outdoorsy type, then you will be looking favourably on profiles of singles who own horses. On the other hand if you’ve had a run in with a motorcyclist, you will most likely skip past profile photos of someone aboard a bike.
When completing your own profile, provide plenty of information about your interests and characteristics, and add photographs, so users viewing your profile can make an informed decision about you personally rather than a general judgement based on statistical discrimination.
A cost-benefit analysis is as simple as it sounds: making a decision between possible options based on the ratio of cost to benefit each option offers.
This applies to online dating in a number of ways. Perhaps you are thinking of signing up to multiple sites to increase your chances of finding a match. Before you do that, think about the increased costs involved in terms of money, stress and time spent online.
Whenever you make a strategic decision about how to approach your search for love, carefully weigh up the potential costs and benefits of each path.
Scarcity of resources is an economic theory that there are unlimited human wants, in a world of limited resources. This creates a scarcity mindset, characterised by stress and anxiety. Someone with a scarcity mindset is anxious that either time, or single people is limited, or perhaps both. This puts a lot of pressure on the dating process, and can lead to poor decision-making, and unhappiness.
Combat this negative thinking with Covey’s Abundance Mentality. There are billions of singles on the planet, with plenty of opportunities to find love. If your next date doesn’t work out, there will be others, and there’s no race to find the perfect match. Altering your thinking to an abundant mindset will make you happier and more relaxed, and consequently more attractive to prospective partners.
If you wasted your Economics lessons at school, rocking back on your chair, flicking erasers at your classmates, online dating is your opportunity to brush up on your knowledge and apply it to the real world.