CONSUMER BEHAVIOR – AUSTRALIA

Australians’ overseas travel wanderlust continues to grow despite low levels of consumer confidence

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Apr-25

The latest Roy Morgan data shows that 23% of Australians plan to travel overseas in the next 12 months, up from 16% in October 2022 when final pandemic-era restrictions on travel were lifted. Travel intentions have bounced back since October 2022, despite low levels of consumer confidence. Australians embarked on 11.5 million overseas trips during the 2024 calendar year, rebounding to above 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Looking month-on-month, in January 2024, the number of trips were back to 2019 levels and by January 2025 trips were up 11% on January 2024. It is important to note that the growth in trips was largely driven by population growth, so on a ‘per capita basis’ overseas travel has not quite returned to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, 57% of Australians are planning a domestic trip in the next 12 months (up from 52% a year ago).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Private Health Insurance Switching: HCF, Bupa, and ahm see biggest customer growth

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Feb-25

Data from Roy Morgan shows that despite rising cost-of-living pressures, most Australians are maintaining private health insurance rather than opting out, but they are switching. As of December 2024, over half of Australians aged 14+ (57.2%) hold a private health insurance policy – equivalent to approximately 12.9 million people. This represents steady growth over the past five years, rising from 52.9% in December 2020 to 57.2% in December 2024. Some 6.8% of private health insurance policies were switched to another company in the year to December 2024, while 17.9% were renewed after approaching another company. In total, close to one in four (24.6%) people looked for a better health insurance policy deal, up from 22.3% in the previous year. HCF, Bupa and ahm have been the biggest winners from customer switching in the past 12 months, benefiting from their reputation for competitive pricing. In contrast, Medibank Private saw the largest customer loss due to switching.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

Australians who get most of their news from social media more likely to believe in climate conspiracy, study finds

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 29-Jan-25

Research undertaken by Monash University has found that people who use social media as their main source of news score lower on a measure of ‘civic values’ than those who rely on newspapers and non-commercial media for news and current affairs. The researchers also found that 25 per cent of respondents who primarily use social media for news content believe that climate change is a conspiracy. This compares with 37 per cent of those who use commercial TV and radio as their main source of news. In contrast, just six per cent of people who largely source their news content from public TV networks the ABC and SBS consider climate change to be a conspiracy.

CORPORATES
MONASH UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Aussies to spend $2.7 billion as students head Back to School

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jan-25

Research by the Australian Retailers Association, in partnership with Roy Morgan, reveals that 5.1 million Australians aged 18+ (24%) will spend an average of $525 each on Back to School-related merchandise in 2025. This is up from an average of $512 in 2024. BTS purchases are projected to generate around $2.7 billion in sales – this is $150 million (5.9%) higher than last year’s BTS spending, driven by population growth and inflation. Of those surveyed, 44% of Australians making BTS purchases said they would be spending more than last year, while 23% said they would spend the same and 33% said they would be spending less. The most popular purchases will be stationary (mentioned by 55% of respondents), school uniforms (53%), footwear (50%), books (40%) and lunchboxes or water bottles (27%). Women remain the main household decision maker on BTS purchases with 74% of purchases, followed by men at 14%, guardians at 6% and students themselves at 2%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Aussies to spend $2.7 billion as students head Back to School

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jan-25

Research by the Australian Retailers Association, in partnership with Roy Morgan, reveals that 5.1 million Australians aged 18+ (24%) will spend an average of $525 each on Back to School-related merchandise in 2025. This is up from an average of $512 in 2024. BTS purchases are projected to generate around $2.7 billion in sales – this is $150 million (5.9%) higher than last year’s BTS spending, driven by population growth and inflation. Of those surveyed, 44% of Australians making BTS purchases said they would be spending more than last year, while 23% said they would spend the same and 33% said they would be spending less. The most popular purchases will be stationary (mentioned by 55% of respondents), school uniforms (53%), footwear (50%), books (40%) and lunchboxes or water bottles (27%). Women remain the main household decision maker on BTS purchases with 74% of purchases, followed by men at 14%, guardians at 6% and students themselves at 2%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Aussies face $2.7 billion Christmas debt hangover

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Original article by Hannah Kennelly
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Jan-25

Research by consumer comparison site Finder shows that eight per cent of Australians had expected to go into debt during the 2024 Christmas holiday season. This equates to about 1.7 million people; the survey also found that about 20 per cent of them will take at least six months to repay this debt. The Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan in turn had estimated that consumers would spend $69.8 billion in the lead-up to Christmas, with the average shopper expected to spend $707 on gifts. The ARA and Roy Morgan also estimate that Australian consumers spent $1.3 billion on Boxing Day, and a total of $3.7 billion in the six days after Christmas.

CORPORATES
FINDER.COM.AU, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

News Publishing reaches 21.8 million Australians with engagement across multiple brands

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Nov-24

The latest Total News Publishing readership figures from Roy Morgan show that news now reaches 21.8 million Australians aged 14+ each month, and 18.4 million every week. The Roy Morgan data underscores the depth and diversity of Australians’ engagement with news; some 93 per cent of Australians read up to five news brands every month, 63% engage with at least three categories in any given month and 51% engage with four or more news brands. However, General News remains the most read category at 93% of the population. These figures shine a light on the variety of news publishing content and the passions of highly engaged and attentive audiences that advertisers can tap into. The Total News Publishing audience data is based on monthly readership averaged over the 12 months to September 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Young Australians cut back in cost-of-living crisis while older people shop more, data shows

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Original article by Catie McLeod
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Nov-24

Analysis of the de-identified payments of about seven million Commonwealth Bank customers has revealed that 18- to 29-year-olds reduced their spending in the September quarter by 2% when compared to the same period in 2023. Spending by people aged between 30 and 39 was also down when compared to the same period in 2023, but spending by people aged 60 to 69 was up by 3.9% overall, while over-70s increased their spending by 7.7%. Wade Tubman from the CBA said the differences in spending between younger and older Australians was in contrast to the period immediately after the pandemic, when younger people were quicker to start going out and spent more than older people.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Households deplete pandemic savings

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Aug-24

The Reserve Bank of Australia has estimated that the nation’s households had amassed excess savings of about $300bn during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, National Australia Bank believes that this figure was about $200bn. Meanwhile, research from Yarra Capital Management suggests that households had most likely exhausted these pandemic-era savings by March 2024. Economists are now speculating as to whether consumers will opt to spend or save the additional income from the stage-three tax cuts that took effect on 1 July. Too much spending could force the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold for longer than expected.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, YARRA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

News publishing deeply engrained in Australians’ lives with 21.7m readers and nine in ten engaged by up to four different titles every month

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-24

Total News Publishing readership figures from Roy Morgan show that news now reaches 21.7 million Australians aged 14+ each month, with strong readership across every profile group. The Roy Morgan data shows the depth and breadth of engagement Australians are having with news, with 67 million interactions per week. General News remains the most read category at 93% of the population, but there is high readership across other categories, including property, sport and travel. Some 64% of Australians read three or more content categories each month, while 91% read up to four titles every month. The data also shows that high net worth Australians are 28% more likely to read the news than the average Australian. It also shows that paying news readers are 24% more likely than the general population to be homeowners, more likely to experiment with new products and services, and 25% more likely to be big spenders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED