From swipes to intimacy: dating app adoption and offline hookup intention among male rural migrant workers

Drawing on the uses and gratifications theory and social learning theory, this study establishes a convergence model to examine the predictors of dating app adoption and subsequent offline hookup intentions among male rural migrant workers in China. Theoretically, we conceptualize adoption as a mechanism where internal drives, grounded in technological affordances of portability and locationality, converge with external peer validation to shape intention. Our time-lagged survey data from 414 rural migrant workers (further validated by a supplementary sample of 326 married workers) in China confirmed that three basic user motives (pastime, distraction, and socializing), perceived social approval, and social comparison are associated with dating app adoption (DAA), with these relationships positively moderated by person-group value fit. Moreover, DAA mediates the relationship between these antecedents and offline hookup intention, with the transition significantly weakened by situational ethical misgivings. This study contributes to the literature by elucidating the moral proximity paradox in the context of economically underprivileged users, offering practical recommendations for peer-led safety interventions, employer-sponsored offline recreation, and trust-centric app design features.