Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18422
Authors: Berkeren Buyukeren; Alexey Makarin; Heyu Xiong
Abstract: Online dating apps have become a central part of the dating market over the past decade, yet their broader effects remain unclear. We analyze the impact of a popular dating app - Tinder - on dating behavior, relationships, and health. For identification, we rely on the fact that Tinder's initial marketing strategy centered on Greek organizations (fraternities and sororities) within college campuses. Using a comprehensive survey containing more than 1.1 million responses, we estimate a difference-in-differences model comparing student outcomes before and after Tinder's full-scale launch and across students' membership in Greek organizations. We show that the introduction of Tinder led to a sharp, persistent increase in the frequency of sexual activity, with no corresponding impact on the likelihood of relationship formation. Inequality in dating outcomes increased among male students but not among female students. Finally, in terms of overall well-being, dating apps have downstream benefits through relative improvements to students' mental health, but also costs due to increased incidences of sexual assaults and sexually transmitted diseases. Overall, our results suggest that digital technologies have far-reaching influence on social behavior and relationships.
Keywords: online platforms; tinder; health; mobile technology
JEL Codes: D91; I12; I23; J10; L82; L86
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Tinder (Y60) | sexual activity among Greek-affiliated students (I23) |
| Tinder (Y60) | likelihood of having had sex in the previous 12 months (C83) |
| Tinder (Y60) | mental health of Greek students (I00) |
| Tinder (Y60) | reported instances of sexual assault (J16) |
| Tinder (Y60) | sexually transmitted diseases (I19) |
| Tinder (Y60) | likelihood of being in a relationship (J12) |
| Tinder (Y60) | experiencing relationship problems (J12) |