What Online Dating Site AYI.com Learned About Women in 2013…
When it comes to knowing what women want, men are often at a loss. And online, there are no facial cues or body language to guide you. We are decoding the online dating behavior of women and we have to admit, the results are pretty surprising.
1. Women of All Ages Embrace Their Inner “Cougar”
Women are 17% more likely to respond to a guy 5% younger than a guy who is 5% older than her
AYI.com analyzed over 400,000 interactions between its users to see how likely a female member responds to a male member based on his age.
The data showed that women are actually more responsive to being approached by younger men than older men—and it’s not just cougars or girls being hit on by creepy old men.
According to the data, a woman on AYI.com is 17% more likely to respond to a man 5% younger than a man who is 5% older than her and 47% more likely to respond to a man 15% younger than a man 15% older. For example, this implies that a 40-year old woman is 47% more likely to respond to a 34 year-old man than a 46 year-old man.
The graph below shows the likelihood of a woman responding to a man by his age on AYI.com:
Moral of the story: guys, don’t be afraid to approach a woman who’s a little older, you’re much more likely to get the reply you’re hoping for.
2. Size Does Matter to Women—Even in Online Dating
A man’s chances of getting contacted online decline as his height decreases
AYI.com analyzed over 250,000 interactions between its users to quantify how every inch increase in reported height impacts a male member’s likelihood of being contacted by a woman when she views his profile.
While studies show height plays a significant role in selecting a date offline, AYI.com’s data proves that women care about height online, as well, and are digging deeper into a potential date’s profile to see if they measure up before they reach out.
The data showed that the optimal height for a man was 6’2 and the likelihood of him getting contacted declined as he his height decreased. According to the data, a man who is 6’2″ is 17% more likely to be contacted by a woman online than a man of average height (5’8″), and 57% more likely to be contacted than a man under 5’5″.
Being a tall man showed to always be an advantage until the man was over 6’8”. After 6’8″ there is a sharp decline, suggesting women prefer tall men, but not too tall. A man 6’9″ or taller is 22% less likely to be contacted than a man just a few inches shorter between 6’5″ and 6’8″.
3. Women Love Bald Guys
Women between the ages of 30 and 60 are most likely to contact bald men
Nice lush head of hair? Women between the ages of 30 and 60 don’t care.
AYI.com analyzed over one million online interactions between its members to determine which hair colors women prefer.
It turns out; women between the ages of 30 and 60 are surprisingly most likely to contact men who openly admit they are bald. Women aged 30-60 prefer bald men by 9% over all other hair colors.
On the other ends of the spectrum, women under the age of 30 prefer blonde guys while women over the age of 60 prefer silver-haired gentleman. This is bad news for the Just For Men folks. Men should let their hair go naturally—whether it goes silver or falls out.
4. Black women give the most love, Asian Women Get It
Black women are 34% more likely to respond to a male member’s advances than a woman of another race
While the data shows that Black women are the most likely to respond to men online, they are also the least likely to receive responses. This is directly opposite of the experience an Asian woman has online. Asian women are 13.6% less likely to respond to men online than other women, but they are 61% more likely to receive a response from a man than a woman of any other race, making them the most desired race by male members.
The data also revealed that Latina women are the pickiest online daters, being 33% less likely to respond to a man than any other woman.
5. There is a Magic Opening Line Women Respond To
“Hey, where are you from originally?” is 75% more likely to get a reply than an average message
AYI.com analyzed 2.9 million icebreaker messages and found one magic phrase that outperformed all others in terms of getting a response from women.
Forget the pickup lines or the cheesy jokes. There is a magic phrase that guarantees more responses online: “Hey, where are you from originally?” It’s simple, to the point and is a great place to start a conversation. Responding doesn’t require much thinking, commitment or divulging of personal information on the woman’s end, either. Plus, it often leads to obvious next topics such as “oh I’ve been there” or “I know someone from there” or “I’ve heard it’s great there”—the options are endless.
Bonus Round: Location Matters With Women in Online Dating
Women in the US are 45% more likely to contact a man online than women in any of AYI.com’s top 9 countries
For fun, AYI.com analyzed over 4 million interactions from users around the world to find out where women are most likely to respond to messages from men online.
According to the data, women contact men online the most in the United States followed by Norway and Australia. In fact, women in the US are 45% more likely to contact a man online than women in any of AYI.com’s top 9 countries, including Canada, Australia, and the UK! More shockingly, women in Norway are 133% more likely to contact men online than women in Denmark, which came in last place as the worst country for online dating.
* Click here to download high-res infographic images
* For more information, email email@example.com
MORE DATA FROM AYI.COM