E-BILLING MARKET RESEARCH
Online Interviews and Segmentation
Johnston hire a well-known market research firm to study and segment the market for e-billing. As a first step, the firm conducted 1,236 30-minute online interview with a U.S. sample of e-billing users and potential users. (All respondents had regular internet access and spent at least one hour online weekly).
Survey respondents were asked a number of questions about their attitudes and behaviors relating to finances, family life, and professional pursuits. There responses were statistically analyzed, producing six distinct groups with different attitudes and behaviors. These groups were listed and described in Exhibit3 on page 102.
Focus Groups
Johnston also conducted focus groups with potential consumers who did not use e-billing. Eight groups of 8 individuals (64 totals) were given a description of e-billing and asked a series of questions about their willingness to use it. Although focus group participants expressed moderate interest in e-billing overall, they also had several questions, including:
- “Does e-billing automatically pay the bill too?”
- “Who send the e-bill? The bank or the company I have to pay?”
- “Can I sign up for e-billing through my bank or do I have to ask all the individual companies?”
- “What exactly is the benefit of e-billing?”
Participants also expressed their opinion on e-bill’s benefit (e.g., “Getting bills electronically is simpler and quicker than getting them on paper”) and drawbacks (e.g., “A paper bill is physical reminder on pay it; and e-bill doesn’t give me that”). One feature that many participants said would help motivate them to use e-billing was “divisibility,” or the ability to receive e-bills without being required to stop paper bills.
Concept Test
As a final step, Fiserv conducted a formal concept test of e-billing. The firm contact 2,000 individuals who were not using e-billing (but who were representative of the overall population of consumers) and encouraged them to try it for two months and then response to a survey about it. The offer provided a general description of e-billing and allowed consumers to continue receiving paper bills during the trial period. Only 4.5 percent of the sample expressed interest in the offer, though the response rate was close to 8 percent among E-Savvy Planner and Maximizers. When a similar sample was offered $20 in gift cards to try e-billing, 53 percent agreed.
After using e-billing for two months, 73 percent of participants either agreed or strongly agreed with a statement indicating their willingness to adopt e-billing for the long term. Followed-up interviews suggested that the trial period helped ease initial confusion about e-billing and skepticism about its value. For example, one participant noted, “This is a great idea, a great product. But I really needed to use it to understand how great it is.”
Consumers were also asked which e-billing features they liked as well as why they might still want a paper bill. Results are reported in Exhibit4 and are divided by segment.