Future Trends in Dating. The CEO of Love report 2015
Yes it’s finally arrived: The Dating-Experts series of interviews looking at future trends in online dating is here.
We asked 15 CEOs from some of the top brands in Europe about their feelings for the future of dating and how their own brands were planning for these changes over the coming year. The results give a fascinating insight into where the brightest minds in the business think the trends are heading; what it is that could transform the industry and what things are perhaps currently overhyped. You can download and read the full report at your leisure, but here are some of the headlines to wet your appetite:
I didn’t know I was looking for love – until I found you
You might feel that the rise of hook-up apps, like Tinder, is pushing people more towards casual and non-committal relationships. However, all our CEOs, whether they run serious love seeking services or causal dating chat sites, were unanimous in believing that what people are really looking for is still love. One night stands can lead to love and even when people sign up for a casual dating service, they often state that they are looking for a serious relationship in their preferences!
“Screen size does matter” – Scepticism about Wearables
The phrase coined by C-date CEO Heinz Laumann sums up the views expressed regarding the possible rise of the smart watch. Most felt that this was a technology yet to prove itself or to prove how it can deliver added value for customers in online dating or indeed other services. Most of the CEOs we interviewed are waiting to see if so called ‘wearables’ will impact the market before actively seeking to exploit this new medium.
Online dating empowers women
Many of our CEOs were keen to stress the role their sites play in helping women take control of their love and sex lives. The gist of the argument being that, with the help of online dating, women can step out of the passive roles they assume in more traditional scenarios and really be the choosers and pursuers online. “We are seeing more and more women grabbing what they want and need” – Sigurd Vedal, CEO of Victoria Milan.
There’s no such thing as a free date
Boys know this, and our CEOs think it’s true in regard to long term prospects for free dating apps. They were universally sceptical about the prospects of free dating being a long term proposition. With the news of Tinder Premium fresh in their minds all our CEOs were keen to assert that advertising sales alone will never be enough and paid for elements will appear more and more in previously free services.
You can read the full report here and read full transcripts of the interviews we conducted in English here.
Submitted by George Sanders on