New Survey Reveals That American Men Just Don’t Know How to Date in-Person Anymore

AnastasiaDate Finds One in Four Men Won’t Get off Couch to Find Love; One in 10 Relationships to End Before Valentine’s Day

New York City, February 13, 2013 – This Valentine’s Day it has become clear that American men have lost the drive to meet women in person, according to a study of dating habits conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the international online dating service, AnastasiaDate. The findings show that one in four men are too lazy to go out and find the woman of their dreams, and of those who do, one quarter are too nervous to speak to a woman they find attractive.

And this Valentines Day, some 1 in 10 relationships are going to end among 35-55 year olds: 55 percent of men said that they planned to do the dumping, while 62 percent of women said that they wanted to end the relationship.

Among other key findings of the study, which was released today, is that American men, aged 35-55, are unwilling to spend money in their pursuit of love. In fact, 96 percent of respondents said that they wouldn’t spend anywhere near $1,000 in the pursuit of someone to date.

”In today’s digital world, more than 50 percent of men who are 35 to 55 or older have dated online, and of those, and more than 65 percent have met somebody,” said Lawrence Cervantes, Chief Communications Officer for AnastasiaDate. ”Clearly men prefer dating internationally online and are getting better at it.”

While the study showed men aren’t leaving the couch to date, it  also showed that they are getting online more, which may be good, becasue when it comes to online dating, one in five men will date ”out of their league,” further eliminating the nervousness of approaching a beautiful woman in-person.  

Interestingly, the study indicates that a majority of Americans are trying online dating this Valentine’s Day, because—with one in 10 relationships expected to end on or before that date—they believe that it’s just too difficult to meet someone in person.

In fact, 74 percent of all respondents believe that technology has made dating much easier, and 55 percent said that one of the benefits of online dating is that they can get to know the person before committing to an actual in-person date.

Other differences among the sexes and online dating include:

§      76 percent of women actually want to be in a relationship this year compared to 65 percent of men.

§      Men are twice as likely to prefer an Eastern European accent in a potential lover.

§      35 percent of men want the ability to take relationships slow online compared to 58 percent of women.

§ 64 percent of all respondents said that there is an advantage to online dating, because they already know the other person online is available and interested in them.

When asked where the respondents planned to meet people in-person, respondents said that they like to meet in a coffee shop using a laptop or tablet (29 percent). Thankfully, only 2 percent of respondents said that they would engage in online dating while discretely hidden in a bathroom stall.

Of people who have tried online dating in the past, over half of the respondents (57 percent) said that they got to know a love interest online before actually meeting them in person. At the same time, 43 percent said that they had met someone online but never in person.

Additionally, 51 percent said that the variety of potential matches to select from is an advantage, and 50 percent said that having a personal profile that lets people know what their interests are is an advantage.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of AnastasiaDate from February 4-6, 2013, among 2,090 adults age 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample; therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact KCSA Strategic Communications Alison Crisci for AnastasiaDate 212-896-1216/ acrisci@kcsa.com. 

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