La Policía Nacional en la lucha contra el narcotráfico

Likelihood to

research/compare Likelihood topurchase 27% 11% 20% 36% 26% 7% 32% 28% 10% 3% 87% 67% I won’t Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely 100% certain Likely

Source: Nielsen Australia March 2013 Research.

The benefit to consumers of using online comparison services is expected to drive growth in usage. The Nielsen Australia March 2013 Research determined that:

• While 53% of Online Australians surveyed by Nielsen have made use of an online comparison service in the last 12 months, 87% of Online Australians surveyed by Nielsen are likely to use an online comparison service in the next 12 months, reflecting increasing acceptance of online comparison services; and • While 24% of Online Australians surveyed by Nielsen have

purchased financial/insurance and utilities products from an online comparison service in the last 12 months, 67% are likely to purchase from an online comparison service in the next 12 months, illustrating the likelihood of growth for the industry.

2.7.4 where do australians go online to compare and

purchase products?

According to the Nielsen Australia March 2013 Research, among Australian online comparison services, iSelect has the highest top-of-mind (unaided) awareness, with 17% of respondents mentioning iSelect without prompting, when they were asked to name an online comparison service. iSelect also has the highest Prompted Awareness, with 72% of respondents acknowledging awareness of iSelect when presented with a competitive set of 17 Australian online comparison services. This high level of awareness of iSelect is reflected when examining usage of the same

competitive set of online comparison services, with 34% of Online Australians surveyed by Nielsen having previously used iSelect.

Figure 2.7.4.1: Usage of online comparison services

I regularly use this website I use this website occasionally

(As a % of total respondents)

Source: Nielsen Australia March 2013 Research, page 24.

2.7.5 why do product providers utilise online product comparison channels?

Traditionally, product providers’ techniques for acquiring customers have consisted of one or more of the following activities: • Paying for mass-market advertising (e.g. television, radio and outdoor display advertising);

• Paying for search engine marketing (e.g. investing in paid search engine advertising (“SEM”), and website optimisation to optimise position in organic web search results (“SEO”));

• Conducting direct marketing (e.g. direct emails / letters to potential consumers); • Employment of dedicated in-house sales teams;

• Appointment of traditional third party brokers;

• Establishing and maintaining a “bricks and mortar” retail presence through a store or branch network; • Acquisition of the consumers of another product provider through mergers and acquisitions; or • Funding product discounts and corporate offers.

Many of these activities require significant upfront investment by the product provider, both in marketing activities in order to generate consumer interest in their products, and in the development of the processes required to convert consumer interest into completed sales. This can involve substantial risk for the product provider if the customer acquisition technique does not deliver the desired number of sales.

Online comparison services can provide an attractive alternative to traditional consumer acquisition methods for a number of reasons: • Product providers are able to use the brand marketing of the

online comparison services to promote their product. Online comparison services provide product providers with a position in an online shopfront which is being visited by a group of consumers who are already expressing an interest in researching pricing and features of products that the product provider offers. • Online comparison services generally operate on a “success”

basis, meaning the channel can represent an attractive alternative to traditional marketing and sales from a risk/return perspective. E2E providers will generally only charge the product provider a fee upon a successful conversion, meaning that the product provider knows that they will generate revenue from the new consumer at the time they incur the fee. Lead generators will generally only charge the Product Provider for a lead, which means the risk and cost of marketing has been passed through to the comparison service, but the cost and risk of converting that lead into a sale remains with the product provider. • Finally, product providers also benefit from an E2E comparison

service provider’s ability to offer insights into consumer behaviour drawn from data analytics that may be carried out by the online comparison service provider to assist in developing and refining products that cater to consumer preferences.

2.8 what are the underlyIng product

markets that Iselect operates In?

iSelect provides its comparison service across seven main product markets:

• Private health insurance; • Life insurance;

• Car insurance; • Broadband; • Home loans;

• Money (including credit cards, personal loans, car loans and deposit accounts); and

• Energy (including gas and electricity).

These markets are particularly attractive for comparison given, among other things:

• The relatively low or non-existent financial disincentives which would otherwise prevent consumers switching between product providers;

• The recurring nature of the cost of these products with respect to consumers’ household budgets (and the resultant financial benefit of reducing a recurring expense);

• The features within some markets that make like-for-like product comparison inherently difficult or time-consuming; or

• In some of these markets, government incentives and surcharges exist that may influence consumers to take up a particular product, such as those in the private health insurance industry. Health is iSelect’s largest business unit representing approximately 81% of FY12 revenue.

2.9 what are the key characterIstIcs oF

the prIvate health Insurance market?

market overview

The Australian private health insurance market is characterised by strong participation rates as a proportion of the overall population. Participation rates are supported by Federal Government regulation that seeks to ease the burden of healthcare funding placed on the public sector (which is expected to increase as the Australian population ages), by ensuring private sector participation in the funding of healthcare. To achieve this, the applicable regulation provides incentives for certain individuals to hold a private health insurance policy.

The majority of Australians now hold some level of private health insurance cover, which may include private hospital cover, general treatment (extras) cover or both (combined cover). Private hospital cover provides insurance against some or all of the costs of being treated in a public or private hospital. General treatment cover provides insurance against some or all of the costs of treatment by certain ancillary health service providers (e.g. dentists, physiotherapists, optometrists, etc.) depending on the type of cover selected. As at 30 June 2012, there were approximately 5.1 million policies including some form of private hospital cover, which covered approximately 10.6 million individuals (or 47% of the population). Including ‘general only’ policies, the total number of policies outstanding was 5.9 million.

Figure 2.9.1: Total policies outstanding (hospital and