What Makes You Click? Mate Preferences and Matching Outcomes in Online Dating
What Makes You Click? Mate Preferences and Matching Outcomes in Online Dating
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DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.895442
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发表时间：
2006-02
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Günter J. Hitsch;Ali Hortaçsu;D. Ariely
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文献类型：
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作者：
Günter J. Hitsch;Ali Hortaçsu;D. Ariely
本文使用了一个新的数据集，从网上约会服务，得出推论的配偶偏好，并调查这些偏好在确定匹配结果和排序模式所发挥的作用。实证分析是基于网站用户的属性和他们的合作伙伴搜索的详细记录，这使我们能够估计一个丰富的偏好规范，考虑到大量的合作伙伴的特点。我们揭示的偏好估计补充了许多以前的研究是基于调查方法。此外，我们还提供了人们在调查中可能不会如实透露的配偶偏好的证据，特别是关于种族偏好的证据。为了研究定量的重要性，估计的偏好在形成的匹配，我们模拟匹配结果使用盖尔-夏普利算法，并检查由此产生的相关性在伴侣属性。Gale-Shapley算法能很好地预测在线排序模式。因此，这个在线约会市场的匹配结果似乎在盖尔-夏普利意义上近似有效。使用Gale-Shapley算法，我们还发现，如果我们在模拟匹配结果时排除偏好规范中不可观察的效用成分，我们可以预测实际婚姻中的排序模式。对这一发现的一个可能的解释是，搜索摩擦在婚姻的形成中发挥了作用。
This paper uses a novel data set obtained from an online dating service to draw inferences on mate preferences and to investigate the role played by these preferences in determining match outcomes and sorting patterns. The empirical analysis is based on a detailed record of the site users' attributes and their partner search, which allows us to estimate a rich preference specification that takes into account a large number of partner characteristics. Our revealed preference estimates complement many previous studies that are based on survey methods. In addition, we provide evidence on mate preferences that people might not truthfully reveal in a survey, in particular regarding race preferences. In order to examine the quantitative importance of the estimated preferences in the formation of matches, we simulate match outcomes using the Gale-Shapley algorithm and examine the resulting correlations in mate attributes. The Gale-Shapley algorithm predicts the online sorting patterns well. Therefore, the match outcomes in this online dating market appear to be approximately efficient in the Gale-Shapley sense. Using the Gale-Shapley algorithm, we also find that we can predict sorting patterns in actual marriages if we exclude the unobservable utility component in our preference specification when simulating match outcomes. One possible explanation for this finding suggests that search frictions play a role in the formation of marriages.