MATCHING SELF PRESENTAION IN INTERNET DATING SITES TO CONSUMER PREFERENCES - AN INNOVATIVE MATCHING ALGORITHM
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MATCHING SELF PRESENTAION IN INTERNET DATING SITES TO
CONSUMER PREFERENCES – AN INNOVATIVE MATCHING
ALGORITHM
Moti Zwilling
Acadenic Center of Law and Business, Israel
motiz@clb.ac.il; moti.zviling@gmail.com
Natek Srečko
International School for Social and Business Studies, Slovenia
srecko.natek@mfdps.si
Abstract:
This study presents an innovative "Matching Algorithm" to match self presentation to consumer
preferences in internet dating sites using data mining and machine learning techniques. The study is
designed from 2 parts: The first part examines the correlation between the presentation characteristics
of man and women in social networks vs. the response rate using several hypotheses. Results show
that there is a strong correlation between the way man and woman presents themselves in social
networks (such as "FACEBOOK") especially in the range of ages 18-55 (average age is 25.91). In
addition, there is a strong positive correlation between the desire of man and woman to develop a
romantic relationship between them trough social networks. As such, the more the user desires to
achieve a "Real" relationship that may lead to a serious long term relationship, the more he/she uses
the social network as an application to achieve their objectives. In the second part the author used
data mining and machine learning techniques (Decision trees and Genetic Algorithms) to predict which
personal attributes may influence the response rate of the other side's (In this paper only Decision
trees – J48 algorithm results will be shown). Results show that some attributes (characteristics)
related to personal presentation and education background are critical to achieve a positive response
from the other side.
Keywords: social networks, dating sties, self presentation, consumer preferences, data mining
11751. INTRODUCTION
Online dating sites have been defined as: "The place where individuals created profiles, and initiate
contact with others through an online service” (Hanock et al., 2007). The internet as a computer-
mediated communication interface has more and more turned to a place where people can meet each
other and express level of affection and emotion in order to have a parallel interaction (Walther, 1996).
This thesis was also supported by Wysocki (1998) who claimed that the internet dating sites or forums
are forming a new way of relationships which is considered more quickly and easy to form an
intimately interaction rather than face to face relationship. Through the recent years more and more
papers report on researches that focus on matching and consumer behavior in internet dating sites.
Such a research was conducted already in 2005 by Madden and Lenhart, where usage behavior of
peoples in online dating sites was examined. Their study reveals that most of the Internet users are
currently single and are looking for romantic partners, 74% of them have used the Internet in one way
or another to further their romantic interests. This study also found that a significant number of
Americans personally know others who have tried and succeeded in online dating. Almost 15% of the
respondents said they know someone who has been in long-term relationships with someone else or
married someone whom they met online. A telephone survey of Australian adults by Hardie and
Buzwell (2006) revealed that 13% of the respondents have had online social relationships. Most of
them are students, young, single and comfortable with new technology. Single and partnered
individuals equally admitted that they had experienced online romance, indicating that many of them
may be cheated by online daters.
Using Gale-Shapley algorithm, Hitsch et al., (2010) investigated the mate preferences and matching in
a dating or marriage market of the online dating sites users. The results of this study clearly indicated
that there is a stronger emphasis among women than among men in terms of the partner’s income. A
sample of 300 university students survey by Donn and Sherman (2002) explored young adults’
attitudes and practices regarding internet use to facilitate romantic relationships. The study results
show that most of the students have had experience knowing and developing a relationship with
someone whom they met online. Much of the research focuses on the preferences of consumers in
online dating sites, however very little is devoted to find the matching preferences among consumers
and the usage of data mining algorithms to implement this matching.
As stayed, it seems that social interaction in the internet is one of the reasons that this arena has
become more popular among consumers and that intimate relationships has turned to be more and
wider in the cyber space (Yang and Chiou, 2010). The way people present themselves in the internet
forums and internet dating sites has been examined in many researches. These researches reveal
that women prefer taller man and they receive more responses from man who seek "good shape" and
"good looking" (Hitsch et al., (2010).
Another interesting finding is that women and man try not to reveal the "true picture" about them
especially concerning the way they describe themselves and the way they present themselves with a
picture (which is most often not updated). (Catalina.l et al., 2008). In this study three main questions
were raised: 1) Is there a correlation between the way people present themselves in dating sites or
social networks meaning by using different level of self attributes and 2) Is there any difference
between the desire of man and woman to develop an intimate relationship. 3) Can we use data mining
prediction tools to forecast which attributes of users may be of influence on their usage and the
response rate of the other side.
2. METHODOLOGY
150 responders which were chosen as a sample for the research were examined using
questionnaires. 53% were man and 41% were woman. The average age of responders was 25.91 (Se
= 5.99). Questionnaires were delivered to responders by Email, Facebook and through face-to-face
meetings. 4 Questionnaires were found as not appropriate to analysis.
The first part of the questionnaire was aimed to examine how people describe themselves in the
internet arena as well as the way these people find their image. In addition the second part of the
questionnaire was constructed from 11 questions where the responders had to answer on a likert
scale ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). These questions were aimed mainly to find which
usage is made by them in order to find their partner and their desire to develop an intimate relationship
1176through the internet. In the last part of the questionnaire the responders had to rank different
descriptions on imaginary profile of woman and man where the color of hair was manipulated by the
authors such as it was changed by the authors using the "Photoshop" software in order to present a
user profile with only one attribute (hair color) which was different among the other pictures. In
addition, different locations and user mood were taken (either in a "closed" place such as bar or in an
open environment (near the see), with good mood or with a sad mood).
Research hypothesis were examined using Spearman correlation & 2 tailed T-test analysis. The
matching forecast was based on the J48 decision tree algorithm provided by weka – a free tool which
is most common in data mining analysis.
The research hypothesis was as follows:
H1: There is a correlation between the way a seeker in an internet site presents himself/herself and
the response rate from the other side towards his presentation.
H2: There is a positive correlation between the desire to develop a romantic relationship through
social networks and the level of usage in these networks, in a way that the more the seeker would like
to develop a romantic relationship through the internet dating site the usage with this site will be
higher.
H3: There is a difference between men and women in the usage of internet dating sites. Women will
be found as more active than men in dating sites.
H4: There is a difference between the desire to develop a romantic relationship between men and
women, women preference to develop a romantic relationship will be found as higher than men.
3. RESULTS
Table 1: exhibits a 100 sample where 58 of it are men and 42 of it are women. The average age is 24 and the
total age ranges between 18-35.
Age N(%)
Mean(SE)
(3.07) 24.813 (%58) 58 Man
(2.99)24.66 (%42)42 woman
(3.02) 24.75 100 (100%) Total
Picture 1: Correlation between the desires of users to develop romantic relationship through social internet sites
to the level of usage
Level of usage in social netwroks
Desire to develop a romantic relationship
1177Picture 1 exhibits a positive correlation between the desire of women and man to develop a romantic
relationship and the level of usage in social networks.
Table 2: Correlation between the level of usage in the internet and the desire to develop an intimate relationship
Desire to develop a Level of usage
relationship v.s.
0.353 ** 1 Level of usage
1 0.353 ** Desire to develop a relationship
0.01 > **p
Spearman test yielded a positive correlation between the level of usage in internet sites to the desire
of users to develop a relationship.
Table 3: Correlation between the desires of users to develop romantic relationship through social internet sites to
the level of usage between men
Desire to develop a relationship Level of usage
v.s
0.311 ** 1 Level of usage
1 0.311 ** Desire to develop a relationship
0.01 > **p
Spearman test yielded a positive significant correlation between the level of usage in internet sites to
the desire of users to develop a relationship (in the sub category of men).
Table 4: Correlation between the desires of users to develop romantic relationship through social internet sites to
the level of usage between women
Desire to develop a Level of usage
relationship
0.411 ** 1 Level of usage
1 0.411 ** Desire to develop a relationship
0.01> **p
Spearman test yielded a positive significant correlation between the level of usage in internet sites to
the desire of users to develop a relationship (in the sub category of women).
Table 5: Differences between women and man regarding the usage and desire to develop romantic relationship
in the internet – T Test.
CI 95% t Female Male
M(SD) M(SD)
[-0.594 ,0.017] -2.107 (0.401) 4.058 (0.876) 3.752 Level of usage
[-0.411 ,3.598] -1.66 (0.292) 4.095 (0.685) 3.907 Desire to develop a
romantic
relationship
**pContent and spearman analysis regarding the pictures and "self description" of users reveal that
women are more attracted to a positive and rich man who is seen in a good mood and positive
position and male attract to a "good looking" woman who is seen in a positive position and looks
attractive.
Picture 2: Forecast the match between male and women seekers in internet dating sites [high/low] to their profile
(romantic objective and level of usage).
J48 algorithm provided by weka for analysis shows a nice correlation of correctly instances which
were classified by using a simulated data analysis of profiles based on the data gathered from the
open and closed questionnaires. It shows clearly that data mining can be utilized to forecast a "high"
or "low" match between internet seekers which hold a different profile – hence different attributes.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the study is to examine whether picture content and profile attributes and preferences
of users in internet dating sites may form a good match between male/female seekers. Results
support the research hypothesis that profile attributes such as good looking, positive position, age and
economic situation clearly have a substantial influence on seekers especially where romantic purpose
is the reason for their presence in the site. In addition using data mining for forecasting, it was shown
that decision trees may assist and support the hypothesis that certain preferences of users profile
such as look, economic situation etc, may play an important role in the success of the matching data.
Yet there is more to do in order to find which attributes are of most importance and which other
algorithms may assist to forecast it, to improve the matching between man and woman seekers.
REFERENCE LIST
1. Catalina L. Toma., Jeffrey T. Hancockm., Nicole B. Ellison(2008).Separating fact from fiction:
An examination of deceptive self –presentation in online dating profiles. .
Pres soc psycho bull, 2008; 34; 1023.
2. Donn, J, E.,Sherman, R, C. (2002). Attitudes and practices regarding the formation of
romantic relationships on the internet. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 5, (2), 107-123.
3. Hitsch, Gunter J., Ali Hortaçsu, and Dan Ariely. 2010. Matching and Sorting in Online Dating,
American Economic Review, 100(1): 130-63.
11794. Hancock, J.T., Toma, C., and Ellison, N. (2007). The Truth about Lying in Online Dating
Profiles, Chi 2007, Proceedings. Online Representation of Self, April 28-May 3, 2007, San
Jose, CA, USA.
5. Hardie, E., and Buzwell, S. (2006). Finding Love Online: The Nature and Frequency of
Australian Adults’Internet Relationships. Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies &
Society, 4(1), 1-14.
6. Madden, M., and Lenhart, A. (2006). Online Dating. Pew Internet and American Life Project,
March 5, 2006. Washington, DC.
7. Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and
hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23 (1), 3-44.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009365096023001001
8. Wysocki, D.K. (1998). Let Your Fingers do the Talking: Sex on an Adult Chat-line. Sexualities,
1(4), 425-452. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13634609800100400
1180APPENDIX
Questionnaire sample questions
Q14
Please indicate from the above pictures which are the one that you most likely choose for a romantic
purpose.
D C B A
D C B A
Q15
1181Please indicate from the above pictures which are the one that you most likely choose for a romantic
purpose.
D C B A
D C B A
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