世論 What Japan Thinks

iShare, in conjunction with SBI Card, recently conducted a very detailed look at splitting the bill on dates

Demographics

Between the 13th and 15th of July 2010 1,148 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 69.3% of the sample were male, 26.1% in their twenties, 42.6% in their thirties, and 31.3% in their forties.

I’m very definitely in the stingy class, although I do much prefer to call it canniness. I think I paid all on my first date with the wife, but after that, even on the first proper date, I suggested we split the bill, which didn’t go down too well… I believe it is standard in the UK and the US to split the bill as paying all suggests that the man might have ulterior motives, although as you can see from that survey, footing the bill does not appear on the list.

Research results

Q1: Are you the sort of person who plans out their spending? (Sample size=1,148)

	All	Male N=796	Female N=352
Very much so	9.2%	11.2%	4.8%
To some degree	45.4%	43.5%	49.7%
Not really	35.4%	34.4%	37.5%
Not at all	10.0%	10.9%	8.0%

Q2: Are you the generous or stingy type? (Sample size=1,148)

	All	Male N=796	Female N=352
Very generous	5.5%	6.2%	4.0%
Generous to some degree	36.1%	35.1%	38.6%
Stingy to some extent	49.4%	48.4%	51.7%
Very stingy	9.0%	10.4%	5.7%

The next question was based on the following situation: a man asks out on a first date a woman he’s had his eye on for a while. She too has been interested in him for a while. The man selects somewhere with a good atmosphere for of meal for two.

Q3: Given the first date situation above, what do you think is reasonable if it were you as the man or woman? (Sample size=1,148)

	All	Male N=796	Female N=352
The man pays everything (to SQ1)	63.0%	70.6%	45.7%
The woman pays a little (to SQ1)	19.9%	16.2%	28.1%
They go Dutch (to SQ2)	17.2%	13.2%	26.1%

Q3SQ1: Given the first date situation above, if the man suggested going Dutch, what do you think the woman would truly think? (Sample size=951)

	All	Male N=105	Female N=92
He’s tight-fisted	37.3%	38.9%	33.1%
He’s got no feelings of love for me	28.4%	26.6%	33.1%
He can’t read the mood	11.0%	12.2%	8.1%
He didn’t enjoy the date with me	8.2%	8.7%	6.9%
Other	15.0%	13.6%	18.8%

Q3SQ2: Given the first date situation above, why would the man choose to go Dutch? (Sample size=197)

	All	Male N=105	Female N=92
With friends or partners, he always goes Dutch	60.4%	56.2%	65.2%
To reduce the financial burden	13.2%	12.4%	14.1%
He wanted to see how the woman would react to going Dutch	13.2%	21.9%	3.3%
Other	13.2%	9.5%	17.4%

Q4: Do you currently have a boyfriend/girlfriend? (Sample size=1,148)

	All	Male N=796	Female N=352
Yes (to SQs)	17.7%	15.8%	21.9%
No (not married)	48.0%	48.5%	46.9%
No (married)	34.3%	35.7%	31.3%

Q4SQ1: When you go out for an ordinary date with your boyfriend/girlfriend, how do you most often split the bill? (Sample size=203)

	All	Male N=126	Female N=77
I pay all	16.7%	25.4%	2.6%
I pay more	37.4%	55.6%	7.8%
Go Dutch	20.2%	15.1%	28.6%
Partner pays more	18.7%	2.4%	45.5%
Partner pays all	6.9%	1.6%	15.6%

Q4SQ2: When you go out for an ordinary date with your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you honestly want to split the bill? (Sample size=203)

	All	Male N=126	Female N=77
I pay all	14.8%	23.0%	1.3%
I pay more	34.0%	51.6%	5.2%
Go Dutch	24.6%	21.4%	29.9%
Partner pays more	22.2%	2.4%	54.5%
Partner pays all	4.4%	1.6%	9.1%

Q5: Is there a famous person you like or respect that you’d like to ask out on a date? (Sample size=1,148)

	All	Male N=796	Female N=352
Yes (to SQ)	39.2%	36.4%	45.5%
No	60.8%	63.6%	54.5%

Q5SQ: If you were to go on a date with this famous person, what do you think would be the best way to split the bill? (Sample size=450)

	All	Male N=290	Female N=160
I pay all	32.9%	47.6%	6.3%
I pay more	19.8%	26.2%	8.1%
Go Dutch	19.8%	14.8%	28.8%
Partner pays more	15.1%	5.2%	33.1%
Partner pays all	12.4%	6.2%	23.8%