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Bill Dutton & Nai Li
Me, My Spouse and the Internet: Reconfiguring Partners and Relationships
eHarmony and the OII
• Los Angeles British Consul
• Model for Dating• Business Opportunities• Growing into UK Market• Matching with OII
• eHarmony• Local, cultural
sensitivity• Branding• Data Protection Issues
• OII • Online Dating? • Reconfiguring Access• Interesting Case• Capacity Building
Supported by eHarmony (2008—2013)• Phase I (Feb 2008—Feb 2009): Project design and pre-
testing
• Phase II (Feb 2009—Mar 2011): Main fieldwork
• Phase III (Mar 2011 – Feb 2013): Worldwide
36 country, Pan-European survey
Me, My Spouse and the Internet Study
Questionnaire development:
cognitive interview & focus group interviews -- qualitative study
Online survey : sample recruited by SSI & Toluna
Fieldwork: two phases Phase I: Australia, Spain, UK and USA -- SSI
Phase II: three waves -- Toluna– Wave 1: Mar - May 2010 (16 countries, 9 Languages)
– Wave 2: June - July 2010 ( Brazil and Japan )
– Wave 3: Nov 2010 - Feb 2011 ( Eastern Europe and Asia)
Research Design and Method
Online survey development and issues
• Survey software
• DatStat Ilume to Limesurvey
• The questionnaire
• 45 minutes for individuals / 90 minutes for couples
• Only couple completions is treated as a complete
• Multiple language options for most European countries
Research Design and Method
◘ Attraction and selection
Where do ‘we’ meet?
Do ‘we’ meet different people online?
◘ Maintaining relationships
Which tools do ‘we’ use to communicate?
What do ‘we’ communicate about on the Internet?
◘ Netiquette:
Which expectations do ‘we ‘have about online behaviour (of our partners)
What do ‘we’ consider acceptable online behaviour?
Research Questions
Reconfiguring access
o Do couples who met offline differ from those who met online? Does the Internet shape selection?
o Expectation – Hypothesis?
Reconfiguring access
Sample and Design (Case study: UK & Australia)
UK Australia
Type of Survey Online Survey Online Survey
Fieldwork October 2008 February 2009
SampleRepresentative sample of married couples in the UK
Representative sample of internet users in Australia
Respondents2,401 individuals (929
couples)1,496 individuals (748
couples)
WeightsWeighted to represent married
Internet usersNot weighted
Sample Composition
UK Australia
Average Age 49 years 42 years
How long have been married 19 years 13 years
Average of Children 1.6 1.9
% with no children 24% 18%
Attraction and Selection
Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline?
Meeting Partner OnlineUK
Offline94%
Online6%
Meeting Partner Online Australia
Online9%
Offline91%
Age groups of couples who met onlinePeople who met partner online in Sample by Age
UK and Australia
6
26
40
20
79
48
29
12
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
19-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65
% o
f o
nlin
e m
arri
ed c
ou
ple
s in
Sam
ple
UK Australia
Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline? In what year were you born?
Where did online couples meet
Where did online couples meetUK and Australia
34
19 18
6 6 5 4 4 3 1
23 26
18
3 512
2 3 3 5
0
20
40
60
80
100
Onlinedating site
Chat room InstantMessaging
(e.g., Yahoo!Messenger,Skype, AIM)
Email Onlinecommunity
Other Multi-PlayerOnline
game (e.g.,World ofWarcraft,
Halo)
Socialnetworkingsite (e.g.,MySpace,FaceBook,
Bebo)
Discussiongroup orbulletinboard
Message orcomment
on apersonalwebsite
% o
f o
nlin
e m
arri
ed c
ou
ple
s
UK Australia
Question: Did you first meet your current partner online or offline? Where online did you meet?
Couples who met online by Age Difference
Question: In what year were you born?
Couples who met online by Age Difference (*)UK
61
39
76
24
0
20
40
60
80
100
Age Difference < 6 years Age Difference > 6 years
% o
f M
arri
ed C
ou
ple
s
Online Offline
Couples who met online by Education Difference
Question: What is the highest level of education that you have attained?
Couples who met online by Education Difference (with and without university degree) (*)
UK
64
36
79
21
0
20
40
60
80
100
No difference in Education Difference in Education
% o
f M
arri
ed C
ou
ple
s
Online Offline
Importance of Partner’s Attributes
Question: When you think about your marriage, how important are the following attributes?
Importance of Partner's Attributes by how People metUK
5.96.2
5.45.6
5.8
5.0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Partner's Personality (**) Emotional Attraction (**) Physical Attraction (**)
Imp
ort
an
ce
(1
-7)
Online Offline
Couple Differences in Interests by how they met UK
1.0 1.00.9
0.8 0.8 0.8
0.6
1.0 1.01.0
1.11.0
0.9
0.8
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
Entertaining CommunityInvolvement
Religion Socializing Music andEntertainment
Friendship Going Out
Dif
fere
nce
s b
etw
een
Par
tner
's In
tere
sts
Online Offline
Couples who met online by Differences in Interests
Question: Please use the scale (1-5) below to rate your interest in the following things.
Commercial Meets Academic Research
• Degrees?• Time horizons?• Deadlines• Predictability: unanticipated changes• Branding• And more …
Opportunities for Academic Research?
Points of Summary and Conclusion
◘ Commercially-led research might offer academic opportunities
◘ Online dating could offer opportunities for exploring theoretical perspectives on the Internet’s role
◘ OII has been able to extend its capabilities:◘ Web-based surveys◘ Multi-National ◘ EC Study of Media Literacy◘ Comscore, INSEAD, WEF Collaboration