The Dating Championships: New Match.com Survey Reveals Singles' Dating Behaviors and Beliefs Across the Globe

DALLAS, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by this year's upcoming global games Match.com, the world's largest dating website, conducted its own international challenge to examine how singles from different cultures match up — or differ — in the game of love. To tally the score, Match.com surveyed over 3,000 singles across six countries, including the U.S., France, U.K., Australia, Japan and Canada to learn more about each nation's particular dating norms and beliefs.

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The results revealed some stark cultural differences between singles on topics such as paying for the first date and who is most likely to move in with a partner first.  Some countries, despite being oceans apart, were remarkably aligned in their beliefs and attitudes on dating. For example, France and Japan's results shattered traditional cultural stereotypes, showing that singles from both countries have surprisingly similar views on dating. While each country came out victorious in at least one category, Match.com's findings make it clear that the true international language is love!

Here are some of the highlights from Match.com's Dating Championships survey:

U.S. singles win the gold for going on the most dates, with 76% reporting they have gone on two or more dates in the last year, followed by Canada (70%) and the U.K. (68%).  Australia and Japan came in last place at 47%, showing singles in these two countries focus on quality over quantity in dating.

• Why are the U.S. and Canada winning the dating race?  It could be due to an abundance of bold women, with 63% of Canadian women and 62% of U.S. women reporting that they have asked a man out on a date.   

Aussies are the most likely to kiss on the first date, while the French take their time: 39% of Australian singles are willing to kiss on the first date, while 45% of Brits wait until at least the second date before locking lips. A majority of French singles prefer to wait until they're in an exclusive relationship before having their first kiss (52%).

Kiss and tell? The French prefer to keep post-date details private, while U.S. singles bare it all: France wins the gold for being the least likely to kiss and tell, with 35% of respondents not sharing details of their dates with their friends, closely followed by Japan at 30%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, U.S. singles were the most likely to tell their friends everything that happened on a date — with 92% admitting they would share at least some details with their pals.

Who pays for the date? Overall, a vast majority of women across the globe reported picking up the bill occasionally, but the responses also indicated that the number of times these single ladies were willing to foot the bill varied wildly by country:

• U.K. women take the gold for splitting the check 50/50 with a majority (52%) reporting that they offered to pick up the check on alternating dates — far more often than women in other countries. 
• Most likely to pay? Japanese ladies take the gold for the highest percentage (16%) of women who said they pay the tab on a date all the time, with Australia, France, U.K. and U.S. ladies all lagging behind in second place at 4%.
• Least likely to pay? French women take this spot, with 27% of respondents saying they would never pick up the check while on a date, followed by Australia (20%) and the U.S. (17%).

Australia wins for most PDA-friendly nation: Examining singles' tolerance of public displays of affection, the survey showed that a majority of singles in all six countries felt that tasteful PDA (such as hand-holding) was tolerable. Aussie singles were the most open to exploring higher levels of PDA, with 22% of those surveyed saying the more affection, the better!

Love at first sight? Japanese singles were top believers in the phenomenon, with 82% affirming its existence vs. the more skeptical U.K, where a lesser 58% (though still a majority) of singles shared this belief.

Moving in: Japanese singles are quickest to take the plunge, while Canadians are last to give up their solo living arrangements.  When asked how long they expected to date someone before moving in together, Japanese singles were the most willing to shack up with their partner after less than a year of dating (59%), followed by Australians (50%). Singles in Canada (31%) and the U.S. (34%) were the least willing to cohabitate with a partner after less than one year of dating.

Hottest singles in the world? Besides expressing loyalty to their own countries, those we surveyed agreed that Southern Europe is home to the hottest singles in the world. Japanese and Aussie respondents preferred the singles in Northern Europe.

For more survey results, visit http://blog.match.com/dating-championship

Methodology:
The data was compiled from an online survey and represents the attitudes and behaviors of over 3,000 Match.com members, 50% male and 50% female. The survey was conducted by Match.com entities in the USA (match.com), Canada (match.ca), United Kingdom, (match.uk), Australia (match.com.au), Japan (jp.match.com), and France (meetic.com).

About Match.com:                                
Founded in 1995, Match.com was the original dating website and pioneer of the online dating industry. Today, 17 years later, Match.com operates leading subscription-based online dating sites in 25 countries, 8 languages and across five continents and is responsible for more dates, relationships and marriages than any other website. Match.com is an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI) and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.  For more information, visit http://www.match.com.

SOURCE Match.com