MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Dating Disruption - How Tinder Gamified an Industry

Tinder’s game like user experience enticed overlooked users, led to rapid segment growth, and ultimately displaced industry incumbents.

An analysis of the U.S. mobile dating app industry from its inception in 2007 to its phenomenal shakeout in 2013 demonstrates that Tinder changed the game — quite literally. As in other cases of industry disruption, dating app upheaval illustrates that newcomers need to compete by transforming noncustomers into customers rather than challenging incumbents for the established mainstream market.