Based on the five forces model, the on-line personals market does not seem very attractive. The entry barrier is very low because just a website is enough for starting its business, and there are already at least 850 different personals sites on the internet, and the same number of new sites entered the market every year. However, most of them may soon disappear without any profit because of the severe marketing competition. Leading companies have spent about 40% of their revenue for marketing and it the ratio has been increasing every year. It is very challenging to survive in this fierce rivalry for start-up companies. The suppliers’ bargaining power is very low because those online companies actually do not need some significant supplies, …show more content…
Its patented matching algorithm might be a core element which provides an important decisive competitive edge. Indeed, the Guided Communication helps the members who want to move to the next step, and it also makes the process smoother. Even though the significantly higher price than its rivals (See Exhibit 1), eHarmony has converted the active members into paying members three time more effectively than the industry average. It means people acknowledge eHarmony’s high quality services and expect better result from its matching system. As a result, there was not any significant competitor in the serious relationship segment. However, these advantages are severely threatened by its rivals. Especially Match, the biggest competitor of eHarmony, launched Chemistry which is also focusing on the serious segment and almost copied eHarmony’s services and business model. Moreover, Match almost doubled its advertising spend and Chemistry’s campaign was directly targeting to eHarmony. Yahoo! also developed a matchmaking service in 1997, and also introduced Personals Premier in rivalry with eHarmony. Personals has been very efficient in advertising expenditure which is supported by one of the world biggest portal site, Yahoo!. (See Exhibit
eHarmony’s business strategy is focused on serving individuals who are seeking serious, long-term relationships that will result in
Justin Young illustrates that “Because of the large population of suppliers, no single supplier can easily impose its demands on firms like Costco. Suppliers’ bargaining power is further weakened because the overall supply is high, which means that a single supplier’s action is unlikely to significantly impact the level of total supply available to Costco” (Young). Costco is one of the largest retailers in the U.S., so it is obvious that the corporation will never depend on any suppliers for a particular type of product. Costco knows that the corporation can’t base the whole operation on a small number of suppliers. Moreover, the limit in suppliers will cause a lot of problems for not only operation but also the ability to compete with other competitors. Therefore, Costco will have a large number of suppliers for their products. Furthermore, for each type of product, they will have multiple suppliers to make sure that they also a variety in any kinds of product. For suppliers, they can’t cause a significant impact on Costco because they know that they aren’t the only ones that Costco bases on. There are many suppliers which want to work with Costco and are willing to replace the spot of any suppliers which make mistakes leading to lose their spot. Getting products in Costco doesn’t only help suppliers reach a large number of customers but also be able to sell more products. With many warehouses and distribution channels, Costco is a dream place to sell products for any suppliers. Suppliers themselves are also in the competition to put their products on Costco’s shelves, so it will not be an impact on bargaining power of suppliers. Even though Costco may have strict rules and regulations for their products, suppliers are obviously benefit from those things. Their products will not only have high quality but also meet particular standards that customers demand. Costco wants to distribute
Love has been around since the beginning of time and for as long as romantic relationships have been around; people have tried various ways of meeting one another. The mid-1990s marked the start of online dating and since then has evolved into a much more common method of dating. Online dating is typically taken advantage of in one of two ways. Some people prefer to create their own profile and rely on themselves to choose their mate choice, while others allow the online dating services to create matches between the online subscribers. In a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center they found that one in ten American’s are using an online dating site to help them locate a spouse or a long term partner (Smith 1). Due to the advances in technology in recent years, online dating has developed into a resource that has become culturally accepted and has advanced in many ways, but with that comes mate choice, safety concerns, and the outlook on online dating.
In “Technology Isn’t Ruining Modern Dating--Humans are” (New Statesman Network, August 7, 2015), Barbara Speed argues the success of online dating websites did not cause people to pursue hook-up culture, but instead the culture influenced companies to cater the needs of already interested people. Essentially, Speed characterizes online dating as a business. If people did not want such a fast paced dating world they wouldn't download the apps to find so-called lovers. Personally, I have never tried online dating myself; therefore, never put myself in a situation where I was judged romantically in a matter of seconds behind a screen. Additionally, people no longer want to spend too much of their time and effort with a person when they can go on their phones and talk to someone with similar intentions in a matter of hours. For instance, Slater’s case study, Jacob, right after he was dumped by a long term girlfriend, he instantly revisited his old dating profile and quickly started seeing girl after girl. However, he has a history of being a passive, negotiator, and low striving guy looking for a girl to fill a void in his life. Hence, Slater fails to mention that people are responsible for their own actions on dating websites regardless of receiving encouraging notifications from old
The market is dominated by a few large suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply. There are no substitutes for the particular input. The suppliers customers are fragmented, so their bargaining power is low. The switching costs from one supplier to another are high. There is the possibility of the supplier integrating forwards in order to obtain higher prices and margins.
The suppliers bargaining power is generally strong because of the big monopolies and the high importance of purchasing components and operating system, therefore it decreases the profitability of the market players.
This is another reason people are gravitating towards using apps like Tinder or websites where an individual can select their own partner, similar enough to how we order out. We make selections on what appeals to our eyes and since society gives us options, we embrace them. Similar to how we grocery shop, we choose the brand that best suits our needs and our customers. This is how we are selecting our soul mate. When surveying Americans about their use of online dating websites or apps to meet people, the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project found an increase in the use of these tech-savvy websites since 2005 when they first took tallies.
Buyer power within the industry is low as substitute products are not easily accessible, unless the customer decides to negotiate with the providers.
The bargaining power of the supplier increases when there are few suppliers or a single supplier is supplying too many companies.
And because of the influence of movies and media, it pressurizes people into subconsciously thinking that their date with that special someone should be extraordinary which usually ends up being rather expensive. While the same cannot be said about online dating as it is cost efficient and allows people to expand their horizons by not limiting themselves to the same circle of people. However, people are more likely to imagine their future with someone in traditional dating based on their personality, habits, and more, while the same cannot be said about online dating. But if done right, online dating can help a person meet other people in the real world who they have much in common with. With the help of technology, they can be living on the opposite sides of the world and still get to know each other well, giving them a chance to delay commitment until they are
The number of suppliers available for each input drives the bargaining power of suppliers. More the suppliers, lower would be their bargaining power.
...nships are being adjusted. They cater to the very need that Americans have, something that is not time consuming. The sites use algorithms to match someone with a compatible date. After mates are matched they begin to email or chat. Sometimes dates come out of these conversations and the couple ends up married. But most of the time nothing happens. What technology has done is make users shallow. With Social Media everyone sees the profile and that’s it. The profile is the pre-judgment that others can have on the user.
Dating really changed in the few last years and meeting people online became not uncommon or just for young people only. But everyone now can use it to find their dates and meet new people.
The bargaining power of suppliers is very low. Major players are vertically integrated for example KKD is producing their own equipment while others are partnering up with suppliers.