Key Takeaways

A recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers by Market Research platform SegmentOS reveals a generation of daters on alert: They’re more guarded and more discerning than they were during the dating app heyday of the 2010s. 

In fact, 53.3% of respondents are “opting out” of online dating altogether, claiming that the risk isn’t worth the potential reward. 

“We are seeing the birth of the ‘Efficiency Audit’ in romance,” Patricio Luna, Founder of SegmentOS, explained. “Modern daters are no longer just looking for love; they are looking for a return on investment.” 

These singles want to mitigate emotional and financial pain, even if it means sacrificing chemistry. After all, a majority of respondents report being in a “committed relationship with their AirFryer and a weighted blanket” instead of with a person they met online. 

Singles want to mitigate emotional and financial pain, even if it means sacrificing chemistry.

Honestly? Same. But this humor holds a kernel of truth: This generation of daters is starved for comfort and stability, two words we don’t usually associate with online dating. The ultimate goal, Luna said, is to “minimize risk in an increasingly chaotic and automated digital market.” 

With this in mind, providing services that are as straightforward and user-friendly as possible is in the industry’s best interests. Intuitive UX, efficient features, and a moderate use of AI respond better to this growing need for user control than automation for automation’s sake. 

And according to SegmentOS, online and offline daters alike have altered the dating process in an effort to make it more efficient, less unpredictable, and ultimately more emotionally protective. 

40% Want Shorter and Cheaper First Dates

A candlelit dinner and a glass of wine may be a timeless combination, but they’re also going extinct, according to SegmentOS. This “Standard Series A” date, as the market research platform calls it, lasts too long and costs too much money for modern daters, putting them at risk of financial and emotional disappointment. 

Instead, nearly 40% of surveyed consumers said they’d rather meet over coffee, spending a maximum of $30 during a mere 45-minute date. This is the modern dater’s version of a “wise investment”: With low financial stakes and even lower emotional investment, there’s not much to lose. 

Finances are a major concern for modern daters, and not only on a first date. Forty percent of respondents said they do a little digging on LinkedIn to see what a date does for a living — and to judge their professional status. 

Forty percent of surveyed consumers said they’d rather meet over coffee than on a traditional date.

Shallow? Maybe. But in today’s day and age, some daters are willing to come off as shallow if it means dating people with a financially stable future. It’s not just about money, but about reliability. Can this person hold down a job? Are they in a leadership position? Do they value hard work like I do? 

There’s a reason daters are turning to LinkedIn to find out this information, instead of to apps like Hinge and Bumble, which also give users the option to describe their profession. LinkedIn implies professionalism, and perhaps even honesty. Dating apps, not so much. 

People usually aren’t trying to impress dates on LinkedIn, making it feel like a slightly more reliable source of information than dating apps. 

Some Gen Z Say AI is a Form of “Emotional Fraud” 

It’s no secret that AI has a polarizing presence in the dating world. Does it provide the efficiency modern daters crave, or does it have more ominous long-term effects? 

Thirty-five percent of Gen Z respondents said that using AI to write love letters is, in fact, a form of “Emotional Fraud.” 

The main worry isn’t necessarily that people who use AI on dating apps are too lazy to write their own messages (though that’s certainly a factor), but that they can’t be trusted. What does it say about someone who can’t express themselves without the help of artificial intelligence? 

More than 9% of respondents admit to using AI to summarize what they call ‘vibe-killing fluff’ from their partner. 

Unsurprisingly, balance seems to be key when it comes to AI innovation in the dating world. Approximately 45% said it would be romantic if their partner used AI to express themselves, but only 9.3% admit to actually using AI to quickly summarize what they call “vibe-killing fluff” from their partner. 

And by “vibe-killing fluff”, they mean the emotional cards and messages you spent precious time pouring your heart into. How nice. 

There’s no question that some people are more optimistic about AI’s role in dating than others. All we know for sure is that trust is at an all-time low for daters and platforms, making AI’s role as an efficient and “trusted” source all the more complicated. 

60% Support Using a ‘Kill Switch” When Breaking Up 

SegmentOS found that respondents aren’t only mitigating risks while in relationships, but as they’re leaving relationships, too. 

These singles are taking a more analytical and, as SegmentOS puts it, “corporate” approach to dating. Nearly 60% of respondents said they prefer activating a “Kill Switch” to break up rather than drawing it out. 

They want a clean break — no drama, no confusion, and, ideally, no fallout. Whether this is realistic isn’t the point. The fact that they want to avoid the disappointment and pain of a drawn-out breakup says a lot about where modern daters are emotionally right now. 

Sixty percent say they want a clean break — no drama, no confusion, and, ideally, no fallout.

There’s a crisis of trust, not only between daters, but with the platforms they date on. Modern daters are willing to close themselves off from the potential healing that comes from painful breakups. They’d rather snuggle up with their dependable AirFryer and cozy weighted blanket than take a chance on a stranger from an app. 

It’s up to online dating platforms to convince daters that they can, in fact, be trusted long enough to give them a high-quality match. SegmentOS’s report sends a clear message to dating platforms: Singles need to know that their emotional and financial investment in a dating platform is going to have lucrative returns.

If you can’t be as dependable as an AirFryer and weighted blanket, you may have a problem.