The figures
| Question | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Not actively using any dating app | 87% |
| Average satisfaction among those who tried one | 2.8 / 5 |
| Disappointment | Share of those who tried |
|---|---|
| Men were not looking for a serious relationship | 32% |
| Profiles did not match reality | 19% |
| The experience felt transactional and degrading | 18% |
| Feature | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Men pre-selected and serious | 50% |
| Discreet and confidential | 45% |
| Most frequent concern raised about any such serviceOpen answer, p. 13 | "Who is behind it?" |
What the numbers say
The 87% is not a statement about wanting a relationship. Half of the same respondents (52%) are not in a relationship, and a quarter of those are actively looking. What the figure describes is a tool that does not fit: women with children, a public professional life and a recent history of displacement, faced with applications built for volume and exposure.
The three disappointments are ranked. The first — men not looking for anything serious — is nearly twice as frequent as the second. It matters because it is the one thing an intermediary can actually change: reviewing who gets in before anyone is introduced. The second and third (profiles that do not match reality; an experience felt as transactional) are about what a public gallery of profiles does to the people in it.
Asked what a better service would look like, the two answers that stood out were selection (50%) and discretion (45%). Read together with the open answers, the standard these women describe is not "more matches" but fewer, explained, and mutual — with a named person accountable for them. The most frequent concern raised was not price or features. It was: who is behind it?
How this shaped Adorée
This chapter is the reason Adorée is built the way it is: no public profiles, every man reviewed by a person before he is accepted, one introduction at a time rather than a feed, and a founder whose name, face and email are public. It is free for women at every step. The study came first; the service was built to answer it, point by point.