The Betterhalf.ai survey estimates revealed a few crucial factors that influence the partner-search process on a match-making site, with a majority of youth considering ‘looks’ as the most impressionistic. By Pawan Gupta
We all have seen the matrimony listings in newspapers describing the type of brides or grooms one requires. It usually mentions the need for an educated, homely yet modern bride from a specific caste/religion with the most widely used attribute — ‘fair-skinned and beautiful’. Even though we live in a digitally-driven world where young urban Indians search for their partner online, the criteria to make a decision remains the same.
Considering the match-making requirements of young Indians, Betterhalf.ai recently conducted an online survey to see the most important factors that people consider while searching for their partner and how important they feel to overcome these factors. The survey estimates revealed a few crucial factors that influence the partner-search process behind the mobile screens.
According to the findings, 43 per cent of single Indians out of 286 respondents consider ‘looks’ as the first thing on a matrimonial profile. Though the factor is based on a materialistic approach, single Indians consider ‘looks’ before showing interest in a matrimony bio. On the other hand, 22 per cent of respondents consider age, 19 per cent the profession, while 16 per cent look at the salary first on a matrimony profile.
While we talk about creating a social identity for everyone, we should also understand that online representation of a person on match-making sites is also crucial and the pictures you put up are the first impression of you. So, looks here do not necessarily mean that you are good-looking or bad-looking, but the placement of pictures, quality of pictures, variation of pictures that makes a profile interesting and trustworthy can also be the make-or-break point for profiles in an online world.
Moral of the story? Investing time in creating your online identity can actually work in your favour. Most of the single young millennials are in the process of finding a life partner for themselves. While the partner-search is an anxious process, the traditional way of weeding out the profiles is based on the criteria levered by factors like a similar or higher family income bracket, caste, age, religion, kundli and language, to name a few.
During the partner-search process, nowadays, people also consider profession and salary before showing their interest in the profile, over other traditional criterias of considering caste, religion, community and culture.
The survey also stressed whether marriages in India will ever be able to overcome the traditional factors of match-making or not. The findings reveal that 58 per cent believe these factors are not their primary filters while 42 per cent find them pretty important. The findings clearly state that the problems of casteism, ageism, and religion hugely influence the process of finding a life partner in our country. However, the mindset of urban Indians is slowly and steadily shifting towards a more realistic approach based on compatibility rather than outdated matchmaking criterias.
Considering the influx of options that the online world is showcasing, busy single Indians look for better and efficient matrimony sites and apps tailored to meet their specific modern preferences. The life partner-search process has been gradually changing and becoming more logical than a dreamy fairy tale.
(The author is the CEO of Betterhalf.ai, India’s first matrimonial application without parents’ involvement.)