Opinion
The world of Marathon is too good for an extraction shooter
by Domagoj Belancic
Storytelling makes dating profiles irresistible
28.3.2026
Translation: machine translated
Perfect photos, interesting hobbies, great character? Boring. If you want to score points on dating apps, you shouldn't simply list your advantages. Experiments prove it: Romantic feelings need a story.
This study takes heart: dating profiles in which we reveal at least a hint of our life story arouse emotional resonance in the other person and are more likely to trigger romantic feelings. This applies to texts, but also to photos, as several experiments by a team from Reichman University in Tel Aviv have shown.
Psychology professor Gurit Birnbaum and her student Kobi Zholtack drew inspiration for their study from marketing research, which has long proven that «storytelling» is an effective advertising technique. Narrative («narrative») elements in adverts appeal to us emotionally because they create a sense of connection. If adverts convey a personal story, the viewer may even release measurably more oxytocin, the central hormone in the bonding process.
The team of two recruited around 130 to 330 singles from the student scene for each of their three experiments. After reading a short, realistic profile, the young men and women were asked to rate on scales how much empathy they felt for the person and how much romantic interest they now had in them. The text started with something like: «I learnt to play the guitar at a young age. My first guitar was a present from my grandfather. And I still play quite a lot today.»
The narrative version weaves these facts into a barely longer but continuous story: «My grandfather believed that music unites people. When I was seven years old, he gave me a guitar, which became an inseparable part of me ...»
In the second experiment, the test subjects only saw photos of their potential dating partners. They showed the same person either sitting or standing in neutral surroundings - in the park or on the street - or doing everyday activities, such as jogging, cooking or studying. The pictures were then arranged in such a way that they recounted a typical daily routine of the person portrayed. A third experiment combined text and pictures. In all arrangements, the participants felt more empathy when the information was packaged in such a way that it was perceived as a continuous story. Better empathy was then in turn associated with more romantic interest.
What applies to product marketing can therefore be transferred to «self-marketing». Birnbaum sees this as positive: storytelling in your own dating profile motivates the other person to perceive the potential date less as a «mere commodity»: «It's not body size or ambition that attracts someone to you, but your whole story.»
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