perfectmatch.com

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Perfectmatch.com
Type Private
Founded 2003, Seattle, Washington
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Website Perfectmatch.com
The logo of Perfectmatch.com
The logo of Perfectmatch.com


Perfectmatch.com is an online dating and relationship service based in Seattle, Washington. The company reports “it is the best approach for adults seeking successful, lasting relationships.” The company offers the Duet Total Compatibility System (Duet), co-developed by Seattle relationship expert, Dr. Pepper Schwartz who based Duet on more than 30 years of research. Duet is modeled after the Myers-Briggs test.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Perfectmatch.com is venture capital funded [2] and was founded in August 2003. It was created and is managed by Duane Dahl, Cindy Henry-Dahl, and Jason McVey who previously built and managed Kiss.com/uDate.com to over seven million members.[3] Kiss.com/uDate was sold to InterActiveCorp (Match.com) in 2002.[4]

Since 2003, Perfectmatch has partnered with the entertainment industry to build the Perfectmatch brand in a non-traditional manner. For example, they have partnered with iVillage, MSNBC, Oxygen Networks, Warner Bros. and NBC Universal Studios and many others.[5] The company has also been prominently featured in these entertainment-related shows or events:

The Retirement Living Television series “Another Chance for Romance” in February 2008. Hosted by Roger Lodge, the segments also featured commentary by Dr. Pepper Schwartz, utilized the Duet Total Compatibility System, and included numerous Southern California-area members of Perfectmatch.com, all of whom paired up on blind dates using the Duet System.[6]

In August 2007, Commission Junction published an Advertisers Case Study about Perfectmatch.com discussing how affiliate sales increased by 300 percent.[7]

The NBC Television special in June 2007 called “The Science of Love: A Modern Dating Experiment.”[8] Dr. Pepper Schwartz and the Duet Total Compatibility System were also featured.

The Warner Bros. 2005 summer movie “Must Love Dogs” starring Diane Lane and John Cusack whose movie characters met on Perfectmatch.com.[9]

The company reports that an entire Valentine’s special Dr. Phil Show broadcast on February 11, 2005 resulted in 207,000 women joining their site that day.[10]

In October 2005, Perfectmatch served as the online dating service working with Live with Regis and Kelly in their efforts to assist show Production Coordinator, Lori Schulweis, during her two week search to find her own perfect match.[11]

Perfectmatch partnered with CBS in the fall 2005 to kick off the first season of “How I Met Your Mother” by creating a matching game of the shows characters based on the Duet Total Compatibility System and helping to stage a dating/social event in New York City at Grand Central.[12]

Perfectmatch was the backdrop of the Lifetime Original teleplay “Perfect Romance” featuring Kathleen Quinlan, Henry Ian Cusick, star of “Lost”, and Lori Heuring. “Perfect Romance” originally aired in June 2004 and continues to be aired routinely.

[edit] The Duet Total Compatibility System

The Duet Total Compatibility System analyzes takes into account each member’s Personality, Values and Ideals, Life and Lovestyle and Preferences to identify and help them find the person right for them.[13] The company reports that “Duet is a unique and proprietary system that enables Perfectmatch to provide both the best online capabilities and member experience to those seeking a real love, a relationship or marriage.”[14]

The Duet Total Compatibility System was written and developed by Dr. Schwartz and the Perfectmatch.com team. Duet does not match people only on similar character traits, but complementary traits of two potential partners.

In January 2006, Dr. Schwartz published the book "Finding Your Perfect Match" (Penguin) based upon The Duet Total Compatibility System.[15] According to Amazon.com as of September 27, 2007 the book “helps readers identify the eight specific personality characteristics that they need to understand about themselves-and others. And the Duet(tm) Total Compatibility System, a sophisticated yet easy-to-follow series of self-tests that have helped thousands of people in their search for love, gives them an intimate and honest appraisal of who they are, what they want, and ultimately, who they should be with.

This approach not only helps reveal each person's unique romantic profile, but also identifies five major lifestyle issues that can have a dramatic impact on the long-term success of their relationships: money, sex, children, core values, and social life. Readers will also be able to uncover the deal-breakers, to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and to determine whether someone is a potential match before getting deeply involved.”

The test for The Duet Total Compatibility System[16] is broken into specific testing areas: Similarity and Complementary. When score from these two areas are combined, they give a member a description of and an explanation of their personality type.

[edit] Similarity

A set of true or false questions addressing Romantic Impulsivity, Personal Energy, Outlook, and Predictability

[edit] Complementary

A set of true or false questions addressing Flexibility, Decision Making Style, Emotionality, and Self-Nurturing.

[edit] Endorsements

Graham Spanier, President – Penn State University [17]

Barry Glassner, Ph.D – Professor, University of Southern California

Judith Sills, Ph.D – Clinical Psychologist

Ross Koppel, Ph.D – Sociology Department, University of Pennsylvania

Barbara Risman, Ph.D – Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh-Durham

Judith Sills, PhD – Author[18]

[edit] Pepper Schwartz PhD

Relationship expert, Dr. Pepper Schwartz is a published authority and a tenured professor of Sociology at the University of Washington.[19] Dr. Schwartz regularly lectures on topics ranging from communication between men and women in intimate and work relationships, to maintaining personal and family well-being in today's world.

She has appeared as a frequent guest expert on the Today Show, Oprah[20], The Dr. Phil Show and CNN. Her written contributions have appeared in the New York Times, Parents Magazine, Psychology Today, iVillage, and LifetimeTV.com. Dr. Schwartz has authored 16 books[21] including Everything You Know About Love and Sex Is Wrong and Finding Your Perfect Match: Eight keys to finding lasting love through true compatibility.[22]

Dr. Schwartz’ holds a B.A. and M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis where she was also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. She holds an M.A. and PhD in Sociology from Yale University. In August 2005, she received the national award for the Public Understanding of Sociology by the American Sociological Association and is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards including the Matrix Award for Achievement in Education.[23]

[edit] Claims

Perfectmatch consciously avoids attracting members interested only in casual dating.[24] Perfectmatch has seen an increased level of membership in the 50+ demographic.[25] Perfectmatch.com allows same sex matches on their site.[26] Competitor eHarmony does not.

[edit] Criticism

In 2006, Perfectmatch.com was stung with controversy over numerous complaints about poor service and failure to response to refund requests. The Washington State Attorney General's office fielded at least 18 complaints[27] and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) handled nearly 150 incidents in the last 3 years [28] and does not hold a good standing with the BBB. The Seattle Times stated that the Attorney Generals Office gave up on some complaints when the company didn't respond to their letters.

Many of the Perfectmatch complaints were about the company's automatic-renewal policy. Unless members cancel their membership before the end of the period they agreed to, it is automatically renewed at the end of the period and they are billed again,[29] although this is stated on their website as a practice. Members complain about a lack of cooperation in obtaining refunds to this practice. [30]

There is also widespread controversy about the site not being as 'active or responsive' as it claims, with members not getting responses from other members and lack of matches per numerous postings and online reviews. [31][32]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Atlantic Monthly article on "How Do I Love Thee?". (http://www.perfectmatch.com/aboutus/Atlantic%20Monthly.pdf) Published March 2006. Downloaded 09/11/07.
  2. ^ Web 2.0: The Next Generation - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
  3. ^ Official Perfectmatch.com Management Team Bios (http://www.perfectmatch.com/aboutus/team.asp)
  4. ^ Online Dating Magazine article about USA Interactive to Acquire uDate.com and Kiss.com. (http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/news2003/udatekissacquired.html) Published December 19, 2002. Downloaded 09/11/07.
  5. ^ Brand Week article about Perfectmatch.com Gets Serious about the company’s investment in more television advertising. (http://www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019847) Published August 21, 2006. Downloaded 09/11/07.
  6. ^ “Another Chance for Romance” http://www.rl.tv/OurShows/AnotherChanceforRomance/tabid/874/Default.aspx
  7. ^ “Perfectmatch.com Commits to CJ Associate and Increases Affiliate Sales by 300 Percent” http://www.commissionjunction.com/advertisers/casestudy_perfectmatch.html
  8. ^ Access Hollywood segment about NBC “Science of Love: A Modern Dating Experiment” televised (http://www.accesshollywood.com/) June 25, 2007. Video file. Downloaded June 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Advertising Age / Madison + Vine article about Must Love Dogs' Becomes Product Placement Bonanza: Perfectmatch.com Written Into Script as Major Plot Element (http://adage.com/results?search_offset=0&search_order_by=score&search_phrase=Perfectmatch.com) Published July 12, 2005. Downloaded July 25, 2005.
  10. ^ Advertising Age / Madison + Vine article about Perfectmatch.com Scores Brand Integration Bonanza with One-Hour Product Placement (http://adage.com/results?search_offset=0&search_order_by=score&search_phrase=Perfectmatch.com) Published March 30, 2005. Downloaded September 11, 2007.
  11. ^ Perfectmatch press release announcing (http://www.marketrange.com/Press/press.asp#) PerfectMatch.com Serves As Online Partner for Live with Regis and Kelly's "Project Schulweis Published October 18, 2005.
  12. ^ Entertainment Weekly News + Notes Section "How I Met Your Mother" actors Alyson Hannigan and Josh Segel at Perfectmatch.com speed dating event at Grand Central Station (http://www.ew.com/ew) Published October 14, 2005. Downloaded October 16, 2005.
  13. ^ Perfectmatch press release announcing (http://www.marketrange.com/Press/press.asp#) Perfectmatch.com Launches Duet Analysis Profile Published April 24, 2006.
  14. ^ The Atlantic Monthly in depth review of Perfectmatch.com “How Do I Love Thee?” (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200603/online-love) Published March 2006. Downloaded March 2006.
  15. ^ Book description appearing on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399532447/qid=1136931408/sr=2-1?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Downloaded September 27, 2007.
  16. ^ Official Perfectmatch.com Website (http://www.perfectmatch.com)
  17. ^ Official Perfectmatch.com Endorsements (http://www.perfectmatch.com/aboutus/endorsements.asp)
  18. ^ Endorsement of the Duet Total Compatibility System used in the book “Finding Your Perfect Match.” (http://redlightbooks.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780399532443,00.html) Published January 3, 2006. Downloaded September 27, 2007.
  19. ^ Official University of Washington Faculty Member Staff Page for Dr. Pepper Schwartz (http://faculty.washington.edu/couples/
  20. ^ Oprah segment about sexuality and relationships televised (http://www.oprah.com/) September 25, 2007. Video file. Downloaded September 25, 2007.
  21. ^ Official Pepper Schwartz website (http://www.pepperschwartz.com/books.asp)
  22. ^ The Washington Post Book World review of "Finding Your Perfect Match" (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/986346461.html?dids=986346461:986346461&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+14%2C+2006&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=F.02&desc=Two+Routes+to+Love) Published February 12, 2006. Downloaded February 12, 2006.
  23. ^ Official Pepper Schwartz website (http://www.pepperschwartz.com/Vita.pdf)
  24. ^ The Puget Sound Business Journal article Dating Site Snares Big Cash Infusion. (http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2004/08/30/story4.html) Published August 27, 2004. Downloaded September 11, 2007.
  25. ^ Perfectmatch press release announcing (http://www.marketrange.com/Press/press.asp#) How the 50+ Generation is Learning to Find Their Perfect Match Published January 25, 2006.
  26. ^ The Dating Weblog Interview by Mark Brooks with Duane Dahl (http://www.dating-weblog.com/50226711/exclusive_interview_4_perfectmatchs_ceo.php) taken on June 1, 2005. Downloaded September 11, 2007.
  27. ^ The Seattle Times: Local News: Some feel wronged by dating service
  28. ^ DuPont, WA: Check Out a Business or Charity
  29. ^ The Seattle Times: Local News: Some feel wronged by dating service
  30. ^ <http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/perfectmatchcom-a1045.html
  31. ^ Online Dating Websites, Dating Services, Dating Sites
  32. ^ eDateReview.com - Reviews of Perfectmatch.com

[edit] External links