Category: Uncategorized

Dating Apps Paying Fraternities To Throw App-Sponsored Parties To Improve User Engagement.

On By tuj52701templeeduIn Consumer behavior, Partnerships & Copyright, UncategorizedLeave a comment

As the title suggests this is a new approach bumble and tinder are using to market their apps to students on college campuses. Dating Apps are partnering with fraternities in various universities (Oklahoma University, Tulane University and Northwestern University) and having them sign contracts, which ask that they align their house with either tinder or bumble.

When it comes to the parties, app companies are responsible for covering production costs and offering branded merchandise. Some frats are stretching the theme even further by requiring attendees to show their dating profiles at the door as a ticket into the party. The more attendees a frat can get signed up for tinder, the more cash bonuses they’re rewarded with. Overall, the goal with this content strategy is to receive guaranteed growth in tinder and bumble’s target demographics of 18 to 24 year olds.

Of course, the idea of a fraternity throwing a tinder or bumble themed party is not in the least bit intriguing or surprising to me. It strikes me as a kind of partnership that you’d expect to exist in today’s digital age.

When it comes to my thoughts regarding the potential effectiveness of employing such a strategy, I think there is little for tinder and bumble to gain, and the reason I say that has to do with how prevalent and widely used dating apps already are amongst college students.

Which begs the question, what would be the pay off in pushing dating apps on college students if many of them are already on dating apps? Perhaps the answer has nothing to do with dating apps trying convince people to sign up, but to convince current users to remain on their apps and keep users endlessly swiping.

To further explain, people often up and abandon a certain app if it’s not delivering any convenience in their lives. If not for this reason, then it is sometimes because the app has fulfilled some purpose at some point for the user, but not so much anymore, prompting them to uninstall the app.

Now, I may be speaking based off my own assumptions here, but I think when people are consistently sold the idea that an app has worked for others and continues to work for others, then it keeps them from uninstalling the app regardless of their experiences. I find this idea to be generally true when it comes to dating apps.

Therefore, having fraternities sponsor dating apps, and throw app-sponsored parties, makes for an interesting tactic as it gives Tinder and Bumble a large platform to further sell the idea that their apps are working for a large party of people.

Additionally, an ideal consumer for Tinder and Bumble is a dating app user who isn’t looking for anything serious or long-term. This is because in order for dating apps like Tinder and Bumble to truly thrive, “hookup culture” must flourish, as the more prominent hookup culture is, the more dating apps can profit off of it.

Therefore, it makes sense that they’re marketing their apps to young people and college students (tinderU) as opposed to people who are at the end of their 20s and early 30s. The latter is the more likely of the two age groups to want a steady partner rather than a series of short term flings.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/8/20/20814152/tinder-bumble-dating-apps-frat-parties-college

https://www.papermag.com/tinder-bumble-fraternities-2639838092.html

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Uber, Lyft and DoorDash Pledge $90 Million to Fight Driver Legislation in California

On By Patrick CabahugIn Consumer behavior, UncategorizedLeave a comment

=Travelers waiting for rides to arrive at San Francisco International Airport. Uber and Lyft are fighting a bill in California that would change the legal designation of their drivers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/technology/uber-lyft-ballot-initiative.html

CreditCreditAileen Son for The New York Times.

A bill in California’s legislature could soon force the likes of Uber to be treated as employees instead of contractors. A plan both companies are totally against and have over 60 million dollars on a ballot initiative to have their companies exempt from the law. Door Dash a food delivery is contributing 30 million dollars on the ballot. This law will give fair treatment to Uber drivers and left drivers as well as getting paid above minimum wage. This article interests me because it deals with customers like me who use uber and left services in the local Philadelphia area. I think this will eventually make its way to Pennsylvania Area. To counter such an initiative, the ballot that both companies propose would have the driver set their schedule. The companies hope to preserve their concession wages, which set in the ballot initiative. Lyft plans to take their plan directly to the voters to combat the California bill which would make services such as Uber and Lyft to change the status of their drivers from contractors to workers which both companies vehemently opposed. As Lyft spoke person Adrian Durbin stated, “We are working on a solution that provides drivers with strong protections that include an earnings guarantee, a system of worker-directed portable benefits and first-of-its-kind industrywide sectoral bargaining, without jeopardizing the flexibility drivers tell us they value so much,”

This article is interesting to the reader such as me because thousands of riders in Philadelphia uses services such as Uber and, Lyft as well as the fact their type of service continues to grow. A similar initiative such as those in California might pop up in our region as well

 

 

Delivery Service Apps Cause Revolt Amongst Restaurant Industry

On By dylanmajerusIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Image result for delivery apps

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/technology/india-restaurants-logout-delivery-zomato.html?ref=oembed

The digital age we live in functions to serve at one’s greatest convenience. This extent has most recently gone as far as mobile delivery apps taking the restaurant industry by storm. Uber Eats, Postmates, and Grubhub are popular United States media companies that enable an awareness for a brand and also functions as a cost effective option to the average customer. Most recently, the discounted rates and promotional offerings through these apps have negatively affected many restaurants financial stability.  

While consumers may feel as if their easy access to take-out food is of benefit, what many don’t realize is the amount of commission these apps are taking away from the business. The #Logout campaign is a movement created by the National Restaurant Association of India, where over 1,200 restaurants across the country pulled out of online food tech platforms, claiming how significant discounts hurt their businesses. 

Aakanksha Porwal, the owner of a diner called Vahnilla & Company, stated that Zomato (an Indian delivery service) users who pay $14 for a year of buy-one-get-one-free dining at 6,000 restaurants has cost her about 20 percent of the company’s revenue. And Vahnilla pays Zomato 28 percent on every order that is delivered. To put in perspective how this translates to U.S companies, restaurants such as Uber Eats and Grubhub charge companies up 15 to 30 percent in fees for each order customers place through their platform. 

The recent campaign thousands of Indian restaurants have supported has persuaded Zomato to limit its discounted rates and invest in alternative options to keep its subscribers satisfied. While these efforts may provide some minimal stability in the meantime, the long-term effect of these delivery apps foreshadow an unclear future for the restaurant industry globally.

I have never used a third party delivery service so I was fascinated to learn more about how these apps can benefit, or in fact hurt a business. The information provided by the article certainly demonstrates how effective media companies can be in any capacity. Just as we have most notably seen how streaming services are causing some to cut the cord with cable eventually the restaurant business may not be too far off.