Why Dating In The 21st Century Is Increasingly Resembling The Age-Old Dilemma at the Toothpaste Aisle

This is a guest article by Cherie Foo, Head of Marketing at LunchClick.

It’s no secret that consumers today are afforded with more options than ever. Let’s say you want to buy a tube of toothpaste. You get to choose between anti-microbial toothpastes, tartar-control toothpastes, and whitening toothpastes. Do you want 12-hour protection, triple action, advanced white, pro relief, max fresh, maximum cavity protection, or optic white? The options are virtually endless.

This is the 21st century, and it’s the best time to be a consumer. Or is it? Here’s what psychologist and professor of social theory Barry Schwartz has to say: although it’s logically compelling that added options can only make us better off as a society, empirically speaking, it simply isn’t true.

Studies have shown that people exposed to more options are significantly less likely to make a decision than those exposed to fewer options. In addition to this, those that do make a decision in the face of more options typically end up less satisfied with their choice.

It doesn’t require a huge stretch of imagination to apply the same concept to the realm of dating and relationships. With as little effort as a tap on our smartphone screen (to open a dating app) or a click of the mouse (to log in to an online dating site), we’re presented with what seems like a never-ending stream of matches and potential dates. And it’s not just these endless profiles that you’re competing with, it’s also robot girlfriends, interactive porn, and any other relevant technology that might pop up in the near future.

So this is how it affects us. We meet our Tinder dates at the bar, and pull out our phones and open the app to get in a few quick swipes whilst they’re in the toilet. We’re faced with decision paralysis, and increasingly opting to ‘not put a label’ on our relationships. We’re scared to commit, because we’re always looking out for the next hotter, smarter, funnier person that we think is just around the corner.

This is dating in the 21st century, and this is when we need to remember, more than ever, that sometimes less is more.

By Cherie Foo

Cherie is the Head of Marketing at LunchClick, a dating app for serious daters and singles looking to find love. LunchClick gives you one curated match per day at 12 noon, and prides itself on quality rather than quantity.