Betty Yao 94933020Amanda Horng 94933017Taeyoung Im 95933070Karri Aston 94933040

Match.com: A match for the Taiwan market?

Love is Complicated, But Match.com is Easy video clip

Agenda

• Objectives• On-line dating industry overview• About Match.com• Hypotheses, data & results• Recommendations & learnings

Objectives

1. Assess size, scope and features of Taiwan’s on-line dating market

2. Discover segmentation and market positioning opportunities

3. Make recommendations to improve Match.com’s marketing in Taiwan

On-line dating industry overview

“We are the eBay for human beings.” Jeff Titterton,VP of Customer Services

PlanetOut Partners

Online Dating Industry

•Grew out of popularity of cyber space, cyber cultures and cyber communities

• Popular in many countries

•Helps people with little time or opportunity to meet people

• Most sites are subscription-based•US survey: 18-25 year olds have

more opportunities to meet people,

so don’t depend on on-line dating

as much as older customers for

finding relationships

Worldwide: On-line Dating ProvidersMatch.com Yahoo!Personals eHarmony Competitors

Product Features

•Video Profiles•Instant messaging•Keyword searching•Two-way matching•Match.com Mobile

•Profiles searchable or shared with people one chose, •Anonymous messaging •Compatibility testing •Customized approach

•Depth of personality survey•User is presented with highly compatible profiles

•Niche Personal Sites(Gay.com

Christiancafe.com)•Networking & friend making sites•Traditional/offline dating services

Price1 month -$29.99

3 month - $50.97

12 month - $77.94

1 month -$19.95

3 month - $42.95

12 month - $89.95

1 month -$50

3 month - $99

12 month - $250

Free – thousands of dollars

Promotion

•Margo-an interactive cartoon match marker•Match.com international division invested £3m in a UK offline marketing campaign in 2005•Big Ad. Mix in 2007•MindFindBind

•Yahoo and Starbucks align for personal incentives

•Keep out casual daters

No. of members

15 Million 8 Million 5 Million

No. of members include members in the US and other countries (As of July 2005,comScore Media Matrix )

Online Dating Industry - Taiwan

•2006: 12 million internet users in Taiwan

•53% are single, an increase from 44% in 2004,

40% in 2003•Taiwan market less developed than US,

but more than China

•Taiwan has long history of online “friend making”•1998 NCCU survey: making friends on-line was already popular amongst university students, with 64% having made friends on-line

•Yahoo! Taiwan survey: only 33% of on-line dating users identify their purpose as finding a girlfriend, boyfriend or marriage partner

About Match.com

“Match.com is like Baskin-Robbins' 31 flavors: blondes, redheads, Egyptians and probably a set of Siamese twins if you were to search long enough”

--Glamour Magazine

Match.com Timeline

1996 Attract more than 60,000 members for 1st fiscal year

1995 Launched on the web in US April 1995

2001 Strategic Alliance with MSN to provide online personals in UK 2005 More than

60,000 new people register per day with revenue of 249.5MUSD

2004 The world’s largest online dating website (Guinness World Records)

2006 Affiliated businesses span six continents, operating more than 30 sites in 18 languages with 15M users

2002 launches 25 international local-language dating sites

•Part of Interactive Corp• Headquarter: Dallas, USA

Match.com Brand CultureCustomers/

ProspectsInfluencers

Current Brand Strategy

Reputation Value

No 1 online dating services in some countries (i.e US, Australia), but it’s less well-known than Yahoo online dating in TWN

• Testimonial (success stories, mouth of word)• Guinness world record

• Partner with MSN• Be the #1 player by continuing to innovate in product and service

Relationship

Value

Security, subscribers quality and ease of use are the most important factors for online dating services

• Word of mouth•Affiliate marketing program• Online dating magazine/

onlinepersonalswatch.com report and analysis

• Most strict IT infrastructure for information protection (Microsoft)• Non-disclosure agreement• Listening to customers•Reviewing profile, approving photos and providing customer service

Experiential Value

Success stories • Word of mouth from friends, colleagues• Relationship Expert to provide advice (Dr. Phil)

• Free trial to experience the services• Price incentives for longer subscriptions

Symbolic Value

• Match.com logo• Good looking/charming man and woman photo• Red heart

• Create fun, user-friendly online services

Brand Culture

Brand Story

Easy to Get Started

Instead of just looking at other singles, get them looking for you.

MatchWords™ help you quickly find someone who shares your common interests. Think of them as "keywords" that describe who you are and what you're like.

Who's viewed you? Find out.

One of many services available on Match.com, but only if you are a subscriber.

Let Love Find You!!

Match.com Taiwan

•Match.com powers online dating on MSN in Taiwan starting from Nov. of 2002

•Over 75% of members are looking for a person that will change their life

•We’ve inspired twice as many marriage as any other sites.

•Members in Taiwan: 650,000

Male vs. Female:65% vs. 35%

(source: MSN Taiwan)

•Leading internet portal in Taiwan after acquisition of Kimo on Nov. 2000 ($145 Million) •Yahoo owned sites and services•Attract younger and heavier internet users

Yahoo! Personals Taiwan

Hypothesis, data & results

“Romance should never begin with sentiment. It should begin with science and end with a settlement.”

---Oscar Wilde, (1854–1900)

Hypotheses

• H1 - Match.com is not well known in Taiwan.

• H2 - Age segments use on-line dating sites differently. – Younger segment (28 and under): fun and to meet new friends – mature segment (over 28): alternative way to find serious

relationships.

• H3 - 3 most important factors: security of information, quality of subscribers, and subscription fees

• H4 - at least 10% of people in Taiwan have or would use on-line dating. Demographics can be predictors of whether or not someone will use on-line dating.

Data Collection

• 13 question survey • Distributed in Taipei, Taichung,

Kaohsiung • Q1-7: demographic data - age,

sex, marital status, education, income level, internet usage

• Q8-13: data to test our specific hypotheses

• Pre-test -> added question on marital status, more competitor sites, and changed format for important factors

Survey

Survey Sample

Surveys collected: 85

Males/female: 33/52Married/Single: 18/67

Age range: 18-43 years oldAverage age: 28.8 years old

Avg time online/week: 18.5 hrs.Avg time online socializing/week: 2.8 hrs

H1 - Brand awareness

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Yahoo

Dating

Mat

ch.c

om

Speed

date

AsiaEur

o

FriendA

sia

Ginomatch

Love

mat

ch

Other

Website

Re

sp

on

de

nts

85%

35%

2% 4%

11%

6%1%0%

H2 – Age & Reasons for Use

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

New friends

Serious re

lationship

Marriage

Fun

Easiest meetin

gOther

Reasons for use

Res

po

nd

ents 28 and under

over 28

A Little Statistics…

• Use 2x6 contingency table to determine if difference is significant

52 = 3.11 (p=0.68)

• So no significant difference between age group usage

√

H3 - Most Important Factors

√

H4 Users & Demographics

Logistic Regression Model

Parameter coeff s.e. t p

Const 8.4928 3.9064 2.1741 0.0297Sex -11.1175 4.6802 -2.3754 0.0175Age -0.2446 0.1325 -1.8454 0.0650Age:Sex 0.3279 0.1622 2.0220 0.0432Education -1.7142 0.9083 -1.8873 0.0591Sex:Education 1.9942 1.0899 1.8298 0.0673Income 1.3774 0.7882 1.7476 0.0805Sex:Income -2.0808 1.0507 -1.9803 0.0477

Predictions From the Model

• Sex: Men are more likely to use• Age: As they age, women more likely to use,

men less likely• Education: With more education, women

more likely to use, men less likely• Income: With higher income,

men are more likely to use,

women less likely• Internet usage: no effect

Kenji Wu

• Sex: Male• Age: 27• Education: BA• Income: 1M+ NT

Chance of using on-line dating…. 94.9%

Lin Zhi Ling

• Sex: Female• Age: 33• Education: BA• Income: 1M+ NT

Chance of using on-line dating…. 26.9%

Prof. Trappey

• Sex: Male• Age: 35 (‘ish)• Education: PhD• Income: 1M+ NT

Chance of using on-line dating…. 7.9%

Recommendations

“One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”

---Oscar Wilde, (1854–1900)

Dr. Phil Would Say….

Know who you want to attract (segment)

Make a big romantic gesture (offer great new service)

Get yourself noticed (brand awareness)

Know what she wants (listen to VOC)

Build Brand Awareness

– Use more channels– Internet usage time is

NOT a predictor of who uses online dating...

– So don’t neglect traditional forms of advertising

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

TV Magazine Internet Friend Other

Res

pond

ents

• Increase advertising & public relations–Only 35% of respondents aware of Match.com

PR Events

Host special events for subscribers

• Draw media attention

• Build brand awareness & image

Target Marketing

• Use our model to target segments most likely to use on-line dating

For Man : ~ 28 year old, lowereducation but highincome.

For Woman : 28 ~ 35 year old, lower income but high education

Listen to Consumers

• Improve services and features to satisfy consumer preferences.

Launch Match.com Mobile

• Be first to launch “mobile romance” in Taiwan

• Subscribers automatically receive a text message on a GPS-enabled phone when a match is nearby

• Corporate partnership opportunity

• Already launched in China

Key Lessons Learned

• International marketing success

may not transfer to local success• Culture makes a difference• Taiwan online dating market has more potential

than expected• Co-branding with a known brand (MSN) is very

effective• Surveying is more problematic than expected –

time, space, honesty

References• (2006, May 10). Match.com launches new starter kit to help people discover

what millions already know: Online dating works. PR Newswire US. • (2006, May 23). FOCUS - China internet dating firms hunt for successful

revenue model.  AFX – Asia.• (2006, July). Internet Broadband Usage in Taiwan. Taiwan Network

Information Center http://www.twnic.net.tw/download/200307/07en.pdf• (2006, October 25). Taiwan online dating market has potential: Yahoo

Taiwan. Asia Pulse. • (2006, September 25). Europeans Nearly Fifty Percent More “Engaged” in

Online Dating Compared to North Americans. comScore Networks Press Release http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1010

• Holstein, William J. (2005, November 6).  For some searches, Google won't do. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)), pp. 3.9. 

• Low, Y.F. (2006, July 29). Financial status is Taiwanese women’s top concern in mate: Poll. Central News Agency.

• Teng, Sue-feng. (1998, January). Love “on-line”. Sinorama, No 12, Vol 22, http://home.sina.com/sinorama/0198/index.html

Thank you!