On this, the last day of the month, aka Movember, aka NoShaveNovember, it’s fitting to learn that scruff is the stuff of love. That’s the word from Dating.com, anyway.
 
The online service pulled a sample set from its website and found that more than half of this month’s active female users (51%) interacted with men that had some level of facial hair in an image on their profile. Profile engagement rates from highest to lowest are as follows: stubble, beard, clean-shave.
 
According to Maria Sullivan, vice president, Dating.com, the site regularly polls its users to gauge their interests and make modifications and changes to update the site and enhance user experience. Dating.com began analyzing this data among 10,000 of our users beginning Nov. 1 and ending Nov. 25. Sullivan noted that this year has generated the highest behavioral shifts in November online activity than in any other recent year.
 
According to Dating.com, bearded men as a whole are perceived as the most eligible group for a long-term relationship. Male profiles with a full beard in two or more images were interacted with three times longer than their counterparts— on average 11 consecutive days. Those without facial hair had the second longest average conversation length, followed lastly by those with stubble.
 
Furthermore, there was a higher volume of interactions among users with facial hair. Active bearded users on average held seven or more conversations at once; rates were similar among those with stubble. And active non-bearded users on average held three or more conversations at once.
 
During the month of November, women were 21 percent more likely to initiate a conversation in comparison to previous months this year.Additionally, website traffic among women seeking men increased by 30 percent during this month.
 
“We were surprised to see that women are the fundamental drivers of the change, which has been different than previous years,” noted Sullivan.
 
The term “beard” was used twice as often this month than any other month so far this year.
 
According to Sullivan, one of the key takeaways for personal care companies is that though individual preference always remains a factor when it comes to personal care, manufacturers should be conscious of and continuously monitor for real-time cultural trends – especially those backed by data.
 
“As a result, (your) readers should consider the promotion of their hair-growth and maintenance products during this time of year, and beyond,” Sullivan concluded.
 
Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com.