Paper Number
1468
Paper Type
Complete
Description
The problem of worsening gender skew is particularly damaging in the context of matching platforms since it affects the welfare and user experience of women participants. In this paper, we look at how a platform-level intervention could reduce the congestion for women and thus improve their overall user experience on the platform. We specifically look at a form of "gender gating" intervention in a leading matrimonial platform within one of their sub-domains. The intervention restricts the profile visibility of women users based on age, education, income, and marital status related to social norms. Our analysis shows that the platform-level intervention had the desired effect – women in the treatment group received fewer unwanted requests for contacts, experienced more matches, and initiated more contacts themselves, representing a better user experience. Our work extends the platform literature by studying how platform owners can improve Women's welfare on matching platforms through market design.
Recommended Citation
Karmegam, Sabari Rajan; Ramaprasad, Jui; and Gopal, Anand, "Gender Gating? Addressing Congestion to Improve Women's Welfare on Online Matching Platforms" (2022). ICIS 2022 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2022/user_behaivor/user_behaivor/2
Gender Gating? Addressing Congestion to Improve Women's Welfare on Online Matching Platforms
The problem of worsening gender skew is particularly damaging in the context of matching platforms since it affects the welfare and user experience of women participants. In this paper, we look at how a platform-level intervention could reduce the congestion for women and thus improve their overall user experience on the platform. We specifically look at a form of "gender gating" intervention in a leading matrimonial platform within one of their sub-domains. The intervention restricts the profile visibility of women users based on age, education, income, and marital status related to social norms. Our analysis shows that the platform-level intervention had the desired effect – women in the treatment group received fewer unwanted requests for contacts, experienced more matches, and initiated more contacts themselves, representing a better user experience. Our work extends the platform literature by studying how platform owners can improve Women's welfare on matching platforms through market design.
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Comments
19-UserBehavior