Do women and men click differently? Mobile devices mitigate gender differences in online dating

Online dating has replaced traditional offline venues largely because of the structured presentation of visual and verbal information about potential partners. This study shows that including verbal information alongside visual information in online dating profiles affects attractiveness assessments by women more favorably than it affects those by men. These gender differences, however, are mitigated by using a mobile device instead of a personal computer. The findings extend the selectivity model, as well as the literature on online dating and mobile use, by highlighting gender differences in processing specific information types and by identifying the device as a boundary condition.