Dating app Bumble has announced plans to introduce more short-term and personalized subscription options for users.
This decision was made to offer consumers of the digital product, who are representatives of Generation Z, such formats of interaction with the digital platform, within which they will begin to pay for their virtual activity. This week, Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder, and CEO of the company who will soon move to the executive post, said during a telephone conversation with analysts that two new subscription tiers, including basic and Premium Plus, will be focused on customers who demonstrate a serious approach and have a high level of determination. In this case, she meant first of all representatives of Generation Z.
The Premium Plus tariff plan provides several extended benefits, including the experience of virtual activity in offline mode. The basic tier is designed for new members of the Bumble corporate community to have the opportunity to demonstrate the features of their individuality in a broader format that takes into account the fundamental basis of their worldview position and establishes communicative interaction with other people in more fun and social ways. This was announced by the general director of the company.
Whitney Wolfe Herd says that the behavioral concept of representatives of Generation Z is not monolithic and within this age group there are differences in the ideology of personal approaches to interaction with the outside world. She also noted that the involvement of young users in social networks differs from the method of action in the virtual space, which is inherent in older generations.
The head of the company noted that the basic tier of the subscription is focused on various types of tasks and a more personalized experience, in which representatives of Generation Z are particularly interested. According to her, the concept of behavior followed by users of digital dating platforms aged 18 to 22 years demonstrates their individuality differs not only from the approach of older generations but also from the models of action applied by those who are slightly older than them.
Another option of Bumble’s measures to gain young consumers to subscribe to the app is short-term tariff plans. Whitney Wolfe Herd, during a telephone conversation, talked about the launch of weekly subscriptions. Such solutions are a reflection of the general trend in the space of the dating apps industry.
According to the results of studies conducted in the United States, it was found that representatives of Generation Z in the search for formats of interaction with virtual platforms tend to choose favor options with lower obligations. According to the results of a survey of more than 2,000 respondents, it turned out that Americans belonging to the mentioned age group, for the most part, issue short-term subscriptions, the duration of which is on average 14 months.
A competitor of Bumble Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Match, and other popular dating services, said during an earnings report last week that young users are willing to pay a little more per week in exchange for tariff plans that provide for smaller obligations. The head of this company, Bernard Kim, says that after the launch of weekly subscriptions, it was found that young consumers are more inclined to products with a shorter duration date than originally expected.
Gary Swidler, President and CFO of Match Group, said that the younger generation feels comfortable carrying out virtual activity within the framework of more expensive tariff plans with a shorter validity period.
The results of a study conducted in the United States indicate that 57% of the surveyed representatives of Generation Z and 48% of millennials use dating apps in this country. At the same time, the average consumer activity on such virtual platforms among the entire population of the United States is 16%.
According to the results of the third quarter of 2023, the base of Bumble users who have paid subscriptions increased by 25% year-on-year and showed a growth of 6% compared to the period from April to June of this year. At the same time, the average income per consumer interacting with this virtual platform under a paid tariff plan decreased from July to September. The corresponding indicator declined by 2% year-on-year.
As we have reported earlier, Bumble CEO Says AI to Help Establish Meaningful Connections.
Serhii Mikhailov
Serhii’s track record of study and work spans six years at the Faculty of Philology and eight years in the media, during which he has developed a deep understanding of various aspects of the industry and honed his writing skills; his areas of expertise include fintech, payments, cryptocurrency, and financial services, and he is constantly keeping a close eye on the latest developments and innovations in these fields, as he believes that they will have a significant impact on the future direction of the economy as a whole.