We know that money can sometimes be more attractive than physical attributes or mental capabilities. An experiment conducted in Germany showed just how true this is in the automotive world.
Nika, 28, and Kevin, 25, created two Tinder profiles to test this concept among both male and female audiences. Each had two completely identical profiles in terms of details and descriptions, except for one automotive detail: in one profile, they indicated that they each drove a BMW 6 Series Convertible, with which they were photographed. In the other, their car was a small 2012 Smart, worth about 5% of the BMW.
For a week, they swiped right on 1,000 profiles of the opposite sex, ages 16 to 55, to gather a broad test group. And the results?
Kevin with the BMW received 40% more matches than Kevin with the Smart, 184 compared to 132. He also received 20% more private messages, 40 compared to 32.
And Nika? Would men ignore the roar of the BMW's V8 engine and focus on her? Not quite.
As is often the case on such platforms, she received far more responses, albeit in a similar ratio. Nika with the BMW received 587 matches compared to 458 for Nika with the Smart. Private messages? 306 compared to 238. Or perhaps all the respondents were car enthusiasts impressed by the engineering of the luxury car.