Satisfaction with financial performance of superannuation steady in November but down over the year

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Dec-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 58.4% of Australians aged 14+ who have superannuation were satisfied with their fund’s financial performance in the six months to November 2016. This was unchanged from October but down by 0.9% points over the year. The survey also shows that industry funds have retained the lead in satisfaction (59.2%) over retail funds (56.7%), but both have declined over the last 12 months, with industry funds down 1.2% points and retail funds down 1.4% points. Both score poorly in terms of the critically important "very satisfied" rating, at 17.7% for industry funds and 16% for retail funds. Self-managed funds have the highest satisfaction with 74.3% (down 1.7% points over the last year), followed by public-sector funds with 69.8% (up 1.8% points). Meanwhile, CARE Super had the highest satisfaction rating among the 18 largest super funds, at 75% (up 10.2% points year-on-year).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, CARE SUPER PTY LTD, STATEPLUS, QSUPER LIMITED, MERCER SUPER PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Masters Home Improvement never a threat

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Dec-16

Home Hardware is the winner of the Hardware Store category in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards for October 2016, satisfying 90% of its customers. Bunnings and Mitre 10 share second spot with 89% each, while Masters Home Improvement is fourth (85%). Only True Value Hardware satisfies a lower proportion of its customers (78%) than the now-defunct Masters. While a satisfaction level of 85% is nothing to be ashamed of, it is relatively low in the traditionally high-scoring Hardware Store category, and it is Masters’ lowest score since February. The beleaguered chain has been stuck in fourth place all year, seemingly incapable of overtaking any of its higher-rating rivals. Indeed, since Roy Morgan started measuring Masters’ customer satisfaction in late 2011 (the year it opened its first stores), it has never risen higher than fourth spot, and actually spent all of 2012, 2013 and 2014 in fifth position.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, HOME HARDWARE, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, MITRE 10 LIMITED, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TRUE VALUE HARDWARE LIMITED

Australian drivers most satisfied with Japanese cars

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Dec-16

Across all 35 categories in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards, car manufacturers have the highest overall rate of customer satisfaction. Some 92 per cent of drivers report being very or fairly satisfied by their current vehicle make. A division of Toyota, Lexus leads the way with 96 per cent of its drivers satisfied. Fellow Japanese manufacturers Mazda and Subaru satisfy 95 per cent of their owners. Six manufacturers are tied with 94 per cent satisfaction among drivers, including Japanese brands Toyota, Honda, Suzuki and Isuzu UTE, South Korea’s Hyundai and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz. While there are over 15 million satisfied drivers across the country, there are also over 540,000 who are dissatisfied with their current car brand – and they are eager to replace it. Dissatisfied drivers are twice as likely as others to intend to buy a new car within the next year (7 per cent). Overall, the number of Australians planning to buy a new car in the next 12 months rose marginally in November to 569,000. The total number of prospective buyers over the next four years is unchanged since October at 2,264,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LEXUS, MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION, SUBARU, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, HONDA MOTOR CORPORATION, SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION, ISUZU UTE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, MERCEDES-BENZ AG

Satisfaction with household insurers improving

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Dec-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that satisfaction among Australian household insurance policy holders was 80.7% in the year to October 2016, compared with 78.5% over the same period in 2013 and 74.3% in 2006. Nearly all of the largest household insurers improved their satisfaction ratings over the last three years, with 97.0% of policy holders being at least fairly likely to renew their insurance with their existing company. South Australia-based RAA leads in customer satisfaction among the 18 largest household insurers with 92.1% (up 6.8% since 2013), followed by APIA on 89.3% (up 4.0%) and RAC with 87.5% (up 4.7%). Only three of the 18 largest insurers showed declines in satisfaction over the last three years: Coles (down 2.8%), Westpac (down 2.5%) and QBE (down 1.9%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, RAA INSURANCE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PENSIONERS INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, RAC INSURANCE PTY LTD, COLES INSURANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, COMMINSURE, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, NRMA LIFE LIMITED, RACV INSURANCE, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD

Satisfaction with big four banks declines in October

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Nov-16

A Roy Morgan Research Single Source survey has found that the satisfaction level of personal customers of Australia’s four major banks fell to 79.5% in October 2016, compared with 79.8% in September. This represents a 2.0% decline in satisfaction with the big four since May 2015, when it peaked at 81.5%. The main cause of this decline has been the big reduction in satisfaction among home loan customers, down 3.4% points to 75.8%, compared with a decline of only 0.9% to 80.4% for other customers. The CBA remains the big four market leader, with a customer satisfaction rating of 81.7% (down 0.3%), but NAB was the only one among the big four to record an increase in customer satisfaction (up 0.7% to 78.7%). Meanwhile, the mutual banking sector’s overall customer satisfaction was 91.0% in October, well above the big four’s average of 79.5%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, GREATER BANK LIMITED, VICTORIA TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK, BANK AUSTRALIA, TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING DIRECT

Utilities providers and the customer satisfaction challenge

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Nov-16

Lumo Energy has won Roy Morgan Research’s Customer Satisfaction Award for September 2016 in the categories of electricity and gas utilities. Some 72% of Lumo’s electricity customers and 77% of its gas customers are satisfied with the company. Red Energy came second, satisfying just under 72% of its electricity customers and 74% of its gas customers in September. Meanwhile, some 7% of all electricity customers and 6% of all gas customers are outright dissatisfied with their utility provider. Roy Morgan’s Helix Personas consumer profiling tool shows that 14% of people in the category of Humanitarians are dissatisfied with their electricity provider, while the Still Working Persona has the highest level of dissatisfaction among gas customers (10%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KLEENHEAT GAS PTY LTD

Satisfaction with private health insurance declining

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Nov-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that satisfaction among private health insurance policy holders was 74.4% in the year to September 2016, down from 76.3% over the same period in 2015, but well ahead of a decade ago (66.4% in 2006). The survey also shows that over the last year, nearly all major health insurance providers showed declining satisfaction; 10.4% of their members indicated they would either leave their fund in the next 12 months or shop around before they decided what to do. HBF has the highest level of customer satisfaction among the five largest health funds, at 80.2%, down 1.0% point from a year ago. In second place is HCF, well behind on 74.3% (down 0.7% points) and BUPA (73.6%, no change).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, HBF HEALTHFUNDS INCORPORATED, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, NIB HEALTH FUNDS LIMITED, TEACHERS FEDERATION HEALTH LIMITED, CBHS FRIENDLY SOCIETY LIMITED, DEFENCE HEALTH LIMITED, MEDICAL BENEFITS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Satisfaction with motor vehicle insurers on the rise

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Nov-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that satisfaction among motor vehicle insurance policy holders was 82.1% in the year to September 2016, up from 80.1% over the same period in 2013, and well ahead of a decade ago (74.1% in 2006). Most of the largest insurers improved their satisfaction scores, with 96.8% of policy holders being at least fairly likely to renew their insurance with their existing company. These are the latest findings from the Single Source survey of over 50,000 consumers pa which includes detailed coverage of over 40,000 motor vehicle insurance policies.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, YOUI PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED, SHANNONS, RACT INSURANCE PTY LTD, COMMINSURE, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PENSIONERS INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD

First Choice Liquor: first in customer satisfaction

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Oct-16

For the third consecutive month, First Choice Liquor has come first in the Liquor Store category of Roy Morgan Research’s Customer Satisfaction Awards, with a score of just over 93 per cent in August 2016. It is followed by Cellarbrations (93 per cent) and Dan Murphy’s (92 per cent). Meanwhile, 48 per cent of people who usually shop at a Cellarbrations store say that being "located where I do other shopping" is important, compared with just 28 per cent of First Choice customers. However, 81 per cent of First Choice shoppers identify "good value" as an important factor, compared with 61 per cent of Cellarbrations customers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FIRST CHOICE LIQUOR SUPERSTORE, CELLARBRATIONS, DAN MURPHY’S, IGA LIQUOR, INDEPENDENT BRANDS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Australians with industry superannuation funds are more satisfied than those with retail funds

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Oct-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 59.7 per cent of Australians aged 14+ with an industry superannuation fund were satisfied with the financial performance of their fund in the six months to August 2016. This compares with 57 per cent of people with retail super funds. Members of industry funds have had a higher level of satisfaction than retail funds every month since 2007. The survey also shows that among people with a super balance of more than $A700,000, industry funds lead with 83.3 per cent satisfaction, compared with 80.5 per cent for retail funds. However, for those holding less than $A5,000 in superannuation, retail funds have marginally higher satisfaction than industry funds (48.0 per cent compared with 47.5 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED