Should businesses go compare?

Price comparison websites are big business, netting their founders huge dividends while enabling customers to shop around for the best prices from the comfort of their own homes – and in this climate, where every penny counts, more and more people are taking advantage of these websites. 

Indeed, a recent report by energyhelpline.com highlights how consumers are taking control of their finances in as much as "by switching suppliers, customers are standing up for themselves and showing that they will not tolerate high prices”.

The benefits of price comparison websites are clear: they help consumers save both time and money, whilst enabling sellers - including those less well-known - to have their products viewed, which, potentially, leads to increased sales.

So what do the likes of Aviva and Direct Line gain from their self-imposed exclusion from price comparison websites? Firstly, by removing the middleman they avoid referral fees. They also avoid being compared to the budget / lower priced products whilst, through their marketing, challenging the assumption that the lowest prices can only be found via price comparison websites. 

Also, by staying away, they're maintaining the stance that savvy shoppers will also ask them for a quote directly and make their own comparisons. This not only saves them the costs associated with being on a price comparison website but also strengthens their brands proposition.

Jez Simms

Group Research Manager

The 80/20 Principle and the three “agents of change”

The 80/20 Principle (which is based on Pareto’s Principle) says that in any situation roughly 80% of the 'work' will be done by 20% of the participants. The key for advertisers is, naturally, to find the 20%. In his book “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” Malcolm Gladwell describes the three “agents of change” describing them as:

• Connectors – people who are both known by a lot of people and who are in the habit of making introductions. They have the “ability to span many different worlds is a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy”
• Mavens – people who have special knowledge or experience. They are “information specialists” or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information"
• Salespeople – people who are persuaders. They have powerful negotiation skills and have a knack which makes others want to agree with them

Perhaps the real key is to make the most of your time - or your money - by not only focusing in the right direction but by also using the time wisely.


Jez Simms
Group Research Manager

For Better or for Worse?

Divorces became popular in the 1970’s with the introduction of a ‘quickie’ divorce, since then the figures have soared, up until 2012.

The recession and financial difficulties is thought to have caused more strain on relationships, raising the figure in 2008. Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that 119,589 couples got divorced in 2010, an increase of 4.9% since 2009. Following several years of decreases – last year's figure was at its lowest since 1974.
In 2012 the figure has declined. Thought to be because less people are getting married, and when they are, they are marrying later on in life. Pushing the average age for marriage up to 36.2 years for men and 33.6 for women.

A Ministry of Justice analyst says “The younger a person marries, the higher the probability of divorce so the trend to delay marriage has contributed to the decline in divorce over the last 20 years.” The expense of a divorce could also explain the dip in statistics.

Divorce rates are now at their lowest for 40 years. The Office for National Statistics say that the last year there were fewer than 120,000. So it appears romance isn’t dead and the trend is turning back on itself, away from divorces.

The Death of the Credit Card?

UK consumers are among the most indebted in the world. The average UK family owes £7,900 on personal loans, credit cards and overdrafts.

Type this topic into your search engine and the results are endless, money managing and saving tools are readily available with little or no cost. With financial matters appearing so frequently in the news, are people now starting to get on top of their finances?

Card repayments overtook new borrowing by £118 million in April, the largest amount since August 2006, when they outweighed borrowing by £152 million. Coupled with the younger generation showing an inclination for debit cards and digital technology, this trend indicates that the use of credit cards will continue to fall. Suggesting that debit cards and other innovations will force the credit card into a dwindling market.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) recent report argued that credit card use could plummet into permanent decline. The rise of digital technology such as mobile payments and payday lenders is changing how people access credit.

Melanie Bowler, an economist at Moody's Analytics, said: "Households are favouring paying down debt, rather than undertaking new borrowing”. Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) saw a 27% increase in the number of people contacting it for help with council tax arrears, from 13,353 in 2010 to 16,958 in 2011. The average amount owed in council tax arrears also increased, from £675 in 2010 to £717 in 2011. Suggesting people are looking for alternative solutions, rather than paying a bill on credit.

However with the rise in funds borrowed from payday loan companies, households run the risk of purely shifting their debt to another commodity. With 2012 not yet bringing an end to financial uncertainty, demand for credit is likely to remain high; however credit cards are no longer the favourable source.

Lauren Overton
Consumer Analyst