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