Online Dating Apps Adoption: A Perspective from Young Adults in Malaysia

Abstract

Online dating apps created opportunities for adults to connect and initial romantic intimacy, especially during the global pandemic of COVID-19. But the perspective of young adults in Malaysia remains unclear. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was applied in this research to discover determinants of online dating apps' adoption intention among young adults in Malaysia. For this purpose, possible determinants that might affect the intention to adopt online dating apps are sought and critically reviewed. With reference to the model, the variables proposed in this research include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and an additional variable -trust. Five hypotheses were constructed based on the proposed variables. Questionnaires were distributed to young adults to obtain valid primary data from respondents. Limitation was found in this research is the approach to collecting data causing the participants to overlook the questionnaires. Besides, restriction was found in the demographic profile of the respondents. The study might not accurately reflect Malay and Indian individuals' adoption intentions. The responses collected determine the adoption intention of young adults towards online dating apps within Malaysia only. This research contributes to the debate among online dating apps developers.

Navigating Love in a Post-Pandemic World: Understanding Young Adults’ Views on Short- and Long-Term Romantic Relationships

“…Technology's impact on romance also intertwines with culture. Malaysians showed low initial adoption of online dating apps (Adam et al, 2020), but attention is growing (Balan et al, 2021;Chan et al, 2023;Shah Alam et al, 2018) despite the expected resistance from Malaysian conservatism (Goh et al, 2022(Goh et al, 2023. Therefore, understanding romantic relationships also requires an understanding of the local, cultural context.…”