Eharmnoy Case Study

Introduction eHarmony is an online personal site targeted marriage-minded individuals and offer uped a unique product, which combined an extensive relationship questionnaire, a patented unified system and a guided communication system. eHarmony made its mark in the online dating landscape by establishing its brand as the site for the respectable relationship seeker, particularly wo workforce(Gabby). eHarmony is a rise up established company that launched in August 2000 with $3 one thousand million in funding and grew into a rumored $ deoxycytidine monophosphate Million, highly profitable company in less than 5 old age(Gabby). Harmony is one of the first dating sites to succeed in providing dev verboten tot upes. Situational Analysis eHarmonys existing customers atomic number 18 online users ar both men and women that range from the age groups of 18 all the way up to 87, but the fastest growing group right now is men and women ages 35-55. some different fact of Internet data is that regardless of gender, age, or race the volume of serious Internet daters earn at least 50K per year( penhelper. com). eHarmony is a safe and easy way to date without having to go out. Harmony is an comminuted way to explore ones options with an unlimited amount of choices. eHarmonys enemys are the do yourself site which are, Yahoo the personals and run into. com. Other competitors consist of Match. com, Chemistry, heterosexual sites, African American sites, faith-based sites and online social networks that are a threat to eHarmony such as Facebook, and MySpace. Consumers of eHarmony tint for a site that bases upon personality rather than how an individual looks. eHarmony chooses the perfect check up on based upon personality traits, which is why consumers truly enjoy this site.The economic conditions that eHarmony faces during these firmly economic judgment of convictions is that consumers restrain to profits a topple to hold up a member. The fee makes it ha rder for consumers who are not doing very well during the recession. bring up Strengths Opportunities Memberships Gay and Lesbian market Patent ompatibility test Divorce ad formulas Casual daters Guided communications Global Expansion Weaknesses Threats Doesnt offer gay and sapphic services Online social networks eHarmony scarce operates in the US Competition Lengthy Questionnaire Free dating services Strengths Harmony has practically strength in its business that are necessary for its advantage. eHarmony charges a fee to get going a member because of their success rate of achieving long- termination relationships. in that location has been an increase in the number of paying members, because eHarmony is confident in recommending matches that matter in a high level of marital satisfaction. The compatibilities test, is used to match individuals, based on their personality types. The questionnaire has 250 questions, which takes well-nigh 45 mi nutes to complete. so far though the questionnaire is a lengthy process more than 14 million people have completed it in the first seven eld of eHarmonys existence. Harmonys advertising formula was successful because eHarmony was one for the few companies that made off line marketing work and pay for itself. Guided communication is the questionnaire that is done before the matches can communicate directly. This is a strength because it determines if the individuals are a true match for one an some other. Weaknesses EHarmonys helplessnesses are that it does not offer its single matching services to women desire women or men seeking men. Giving eHarmony limited resources and the small coat of the identical sex market the company did not believe it was necessary to image the market place. Another weakness that eHarmony has is that it does not market in other countries but the US.If eHarmony does not expand to new geographic areas, it could take a chance that its competitors wou ld already take its target segment. Lastly, the personality profile has been abbreviate from 450 to 250 questions, which takes about(predicate) 45 minutes to complete. It has been stated in the case study, that men are less likely to complete the questionnaire after starting. This is a weakness because they are ultimately losing costumers from the time consuming questionnaire. Opportunities eHarmonys opportunities are that they have the ability to enter into the gay and lesbian market which is one of the largest niche markets. This market attracts about one tenthof the Internet traffic of the heterosexual personal sites.With the separate rate being extremely high, this has led to the older individuals searching for a new soul mate. eHarmony makes it easier for singles to find dates, by saving time since eHarmony does the picking fortheconsumers. eHarmony could create a competitive advantage, by broaden their customer base, and including more casual daters. There are many people co ncerned in casual dating who could benefit from eHarmonys matching compatibilities. redden though global expansion has been stated as a weakness we besides believe it is an opportunity. Threats Large online social networks such as Facebook and chitter attract customers though the process of friends encouraging friends to give.This website provide personal information, which persuaded other to talk to one another and potentially date. Online social networks are also attractive to people who are in a long term relationship, and could not join a dating site without jeopardizing their current relationships. With Match being its biggest competitor customer have, a difficult time differentiating amongst the two. Chemistry one of Matchs sister companies is another competitor that companies that it does not know why eHarmony rejects people. The free dating service has, become an enormous threat to eHarmony because consumers claim that making people pay to join a dating site served as a serious bulwarkthatseparatesindividuals.Assumptions The missing information that we believe is not in the case is the following, 1. If the lesbian and gay market where in eHarmony would it affect its current customers. 2. What is the main precedent why they dont have same sex unification 3. What is holding eHarmony back from expanding overseas. Statement of the Problem The main problem that eHarmony faces is that they only centralise on matching men with women and do not focus on same sex paring. According to the Independent Gay Forum, A team at the Harvard school of public health reported that 6. 2 percent of men and 3. 6 percent of women reported same sex-partner in the pervious five years.These statistics are extremely high, and it would be in the ruff interest of eHarmony to focus on this market as well as straight individuals. Alternatives/ Recommendation The statement of problem that could have been avoided by eHarmony is to have a gay and lesbian section. This would at tract this market to their website, but they forget also still focus on promoting to matching women and men. This website will undertake a compatible partner whom shares similar backgrounds, goals, values and beliefs among many other valuable characteristic. Implementation eHarmony will implement a gay and lesbian section to their website that guarantees a long lasting relationship. It will use the same format of questionnaires and personality test that eHarmony uses now. This site will lso implement success stories, privacy policy and safety tips to get wind that this is what they truly are sounding for. This site will focus on this market segment with out gays and lesbians feeling as if they are being segregated. Control/Evaluation To ensure that eHarmony is achieving what they set out to accomplish they will establish actions to support their goals. eHarmonys goal is to create a marketing strategy by origination a campaign that focuses on gay and lesbians, to attract them to wards the new and coming(prenominal) website of eHarmony. By creating awareness towards this market, this would increase positive word of mouth, as well new memberships for eHarmony. Harmony will also create a hearty bond with these customers to understand their wants and needs. Works Cited Gabby, Nisan. EHarmony Case Study Offline Advertising the light upon to Scale Startup Review Blog. Startup Review Blog Analyzing mesh Success. 07 Dec. 2006. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. . Online Dating Profile Writing Help Online Dating Profile Experts Profile Helper. com. 2 Jan. 2006. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. . Varnell, Paul. More Gays than Lesbians IGF Culture run into. IGF Culture Watch Forging a Gay Mainstream. 30 Nov. 1999. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. . Warren, Neil C. EHarmony 1 sure Singles Online Dating Site More than Personals. 28 Mar. 2001. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. .