People Media is similar to Spark Networks in terms of servicing a number of niches. Where they differ is that People Media has proven to be quite lucrative across multiple sites, as opposed to JDate, the Spark one-hit-wonder. Spark could have monetized several other niches, but for some reason, chose not to. Spark clearly left a lot of money on the table by not putting People Media squarely in their sights and declaring them the company to beat. To the winner go the spoils.
A recent People Media poll reveals that around half of the single participants feel that the recession has not affected their attitude towards dating. This is good news for dating sites, but what struck me was that 17% are less motivated to date. Not sure if they mean date in general, or online dating?
…a slim majority of single Americans report the recession has had no impact on their attitudes toward dating.
People will date irregardless of the financial situation. What I am hearing is that 1/2 of all singles have been impacted on their attitudes toward dating. But what about these attitudes? Does that mean they are dating one less time each week, or sticking with the same person longer, or spending less?
24% of Americans would not date someone who is unemployed. Almost 40% of all single women in the US won’t date someone unemployed. That is just sad. My close friend is in a wonderful relationship with a woman who is unemployed. A lot of my friends are what I would call under-employed.
Back to the statistic that 17% of all singles stated that unemployment and the impact of the recession put their motivation to date in a decline. Almost 1/5th of all US singles are dating less. That’s 20 million people. So where is this supposed growth in the online dating industry coming from? People Media is saying they have seen a 15% increase in visitors and several sites had a fantastic 2009.
I wonder what the People Media poll results would look like in other countries? Maybe someone at Lavalife will share some of the dating habits of the Canadians or Meetic or Parship in Europe.
Someone should go back and compare this poll to the online dating polls taken after 9/11. Back when many people were supposedly hooking up and getting married because of the uncertainty of life forced upon Americans.
Enough about the recession already. Regardless of what small samples of singles say about their dating habits, it’s springtime and hundreds of millions of single people around the globe are looking for a love regardless of the size of their bank account.
