"Att swipea tills tummen blir trött" - En kvalitativ studie om hur konsumtionsfaktorer kommer till uttryck på dejtingapplikationen Tinder

Sammanfattning: This study intends to increase the understanding of students' usage of the online dating application Tinder and how consumption and personal marketing manifests themselves on the application. This study was conducted from a user perspective and the empirical material has been acquired through focus group interviews, which subsequently were thematised. The empirical material was later contextualized in the analysis through the following theories in the field of strategic communication: consumption, innovation, interaction in the new media society, self-presentation and personal marketing. This study revealed that users desire continuous affirmation from people whom they consider as objects and they never feel completely satisfied. It stands clear that users, through personal marketing, want to present an idealized image of themselves, with the aim of affirmation. The empirical material was primarily analyzed through Bauman´s theories about the consumer society and Goffman´s discussion of the interplay between the private and the public aspects. This study thus concludes that Tinder is a result of the needs of individuals and factors within the consumer society and that interpersonal relationships have been affected by new communication channels for dating.