Half of Filipinos have used internet dating
Tinder and FilipinoCupid are seen as the most respectable online dating platforms
One of the founding ideas of the internet was its potential to eradicate isolation, and yet some people claim it has achieved the opposite. In terms of romance the story is more promising – it might never have been easier to find a date, and as social stigma around internet dating fades there's every reason to believe the trend will continue.
71% of Filipinos know at least one couple who met online
New YouGov research reveals the scale of the phenomenon in the Philippines. Indeed, half of all Filipinos have used internet and online dating apps. This rises to 56% among millennials.
Yet four in ten (41%) millennials also say they would be embarrassed to admit that they had met their partner through online dating/apps. A quarter (24%) of baby boomers say the same. However, two-thirds (66%) of all respondents say they would not think of a couple that met online any differently.
Most (71%) know at least one couple who have met this way. While three-quarters of millennials know at least one couple who met online, six in ten (59%) baby boomers do.
Tinder and Filipino Cupid are seen as the most respectable online dating services
It’s safe to say that online dating is now mainstream in the Philippines and online dating is an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Tinder and Filipino Cupid are the clear favourites in the Philippines, both scoring among the highest for both fame and respectability. Overall, more than six in ten respondents have heard of these services. Tinder has the best reputation among those who have ever used online dating services, with 53% saying that it is considered respectable. Just 15% consider to be not respectable, giving it a net score of +38 – the highest among all apps featured in the survey.
The services that are least well recognised among all respondents are also seen as the least respectable among those who have used online dating services, suggesting that popularity is key to success in the Filipino market.
Online dating is worth $2.2 billion in America alone, and Tinder boasts 26 million matches a day. With half of all Filipinos that have used online dating services willing to pay for premium features, internet dating has done more in recent years than just shake off its stigma.
*Data was collected online between 11 and 28 September 2017 using YouGov’s panel of over 5 million people worldwide. It was weighted to be representative of the online population. Sample size: 2,777
Photo source: Getty Image / Zerbor