Supervisors: Lina Jacobsen & Carsten Bergenholtz
Discussants: Anne Peschel & Jonas Valbjørn

Abstract
Online dating platforms increasingly combine social and commercial aims, raising questions about how users judge their ethicality. This paper examines how perceptions of corporate motivation, claim–practice congruence, perceived ethics, relative attractiveness, and the normalization of profit motives shape moral evaluations of platforms. It argues that users’ ethical judgments depend not only on whether a platform appears driven by intrinsic or extrinsic motives but also on whether profit-seeking is viewed as socially acceptable. The paper develops a framework linking motivation framing, normative context, and perceived congruence to explain when commercialization is seen as legitimate and when it evokes moral concern.

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