November 23rd, 2017, YouGov
Half of millennials have used an internet dating service or app at some point – while BeeTalk is the highest scoring service in both fame and respectability
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.
Half of all Thais know at least one couple who met online
New YouGov research reveals the scale of the phenomenon in Thailand. As many as four in ten Thais have used internet and online dating apps. This rises to half (47%) among millennials.
Yet three-quarters (74%) of millennials also say they would be embarrassed to admit that they had met their partner through online dating/apps. 54% of baby boomers say the same. However, over a third (35%) of Thais say they would not think of a couple that met online any differently.
Half of all Thais (49%) know at least one couple who have met this way. While 54% of millennials know at least one couple who met online, only 30% of baby boomers do.
BeeTalk and Tinder are seen as the most respectable online dating services
It’s safe to say that online dating is now mainstream in Thailand and online dating is an increasingly competitive marketplace.
BeeTalk is the clear favourite in Thailand, achieving the highest scores for both fame and respectability. Overall, eight in ten (81%) respondents have heard of BeeTalk and over half (55%) of those who have ever used online dating services say that it is a respectable online dating platform. Just 19% consider to be not respectable, giving it a net score of +37 – the highest among all apps featured in the survey.
Other high scorers include Skout, Tinder and Badoo. 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 Thai market. The lowest scorers in both fame and respectability include OkCupid, Twoo and Match.com.
Online dating is worth $2.2 billion in America alone, and Tinder boasts 26 million matches a day. With nearly four in ten (37%) Thais who have used internet dating saying they would rather meet their future via online dating services than offline ones, internet dating platforms have seemingly come a long way in shaking off their 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: 2,720
Photo source: Getty Image / Zerbor