– With Canadians resolving to get fit, survey from romantic social network Zoosk.com finds many work harder on physical appearance when they have a significant other to impress –
TORONTO (January 8, 2013) – The majority of Canadians (58%) admit that their new year’s resolution to hit the gym is motivated by a desire to be attractive and increase their chances for romance, according to a survey by romantic social network Zoosk.com. Coupled-up Canadians have no need to worry that their significant other’s hard work at the gym is to attract outside interest. The survey found that Canadians (59%) – especially women (64%) – pay more attention to their appearance when they’re in a relationship because they have “someone to impress.”
“It’s clearly a myth that people ‘let themselves go’ when they’re settled in a relationship. In fact, Canadians are motivated to keep fit to impress their partner,” says Jane Barrett, Director of Marketing at Zoosk. “From working hard to look good for him or her, to planning date nights or small romantic gestures, when your partner knows that they’re special to you it helps ensure that your romantic flame won’t burn out!”
Belly vs. booty: are your workouts targeting the right areas?
Two-thirds (64%) of Canadians are resolving to eat better or hit the gym more often in 2013. The most popular body parts that women would like to target and sculpt with their workouts are stomach, legs and butt. Men are also most likely to say they want to work on their abs with secondary focus on building their chest and arms.
Are Canadians targeting the right areas? The survey revealed that men are correct to concentrate on crunches; in terms of areas you can sculpt at the gym, women are most likely to notice a sculpted stomach. However, women should shift focus from their belly to their booty as men are four times more likely to notice a woman’s bum than her stomach.
Beating out any area that can be improved by working out were facial features: eyes and smile. Both men and women say these are the first thing they notice.
“We have a rule for Zooskers that they must have a profile picture and it must be a shot where their face is clearly visible,” says Barrett. “Each user is the face of their profile – and this survey reinforces the notion that it’s the face that really gets people’s attention.”
Who places more importance on physical attractiveness?
Neither men nor women rank physical attractiveness as the most important attribute for a potential mate. Both sexes say it’s more important that their partner be honest and easy-going; women also say it’s more important to be funny. But – both men and women say being physically attractive is as important (women) or more important (men) in a mate than being smart.
Despite those responses, according to the survey, Canadians think women are the shallower sex (61%). When women were asked who places more importance on physical appearance, their answers were divided; 47% admitted women do, while a small majority said men (53%). When men were asked the same question, it was a landslide with 70% saying women place more importance on physical attractiveness when it comes to potential mates.
About the Zoosk New Year’s Resolution Survey Poll
Zoosk collected responses from 1,073 of their Canadian members through an online survey conducted in from December 21, 2012 to January 7, 2013.
About Zoosk
Zoosk is the romantic social network that helps members create and share their romantic journeys, with millions of members from around the globe enjoying the service each month. Zoosk provides members at different stages of their romantic journey with a fun and social set of tools such as Romantic Moments, Couple Profiles, and the Personals application. Members can easily access Zoosk’s services from its website, its Facebook app, mobile devices, and a downloadable desktop application. Zoosk is available in 25 languages and has members in more than 70 countries. Founded in 2007 by Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, Zoosk, Inc. is based in San Francisco and backed by Canaan Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and ATA Ventures.