eHarmony SWOT Analysis * Strengths * Well-defined competitive space (Marriage-Minded Singles), Long-term compatability * Endorsed by Christian organizations * מאושרה על ידי ארגונים נוצריים * Able to convert active members to paying members 3 times as effectively than competitors * Distinguished by Personality profile and patented matching algorithm * מתאפיין בפרופיל אישיות ובאלגוריטם האמאמת אישיות אשר מוגן תחת פטנט. * Extensive Relationship questionnaire * שאלון יחסים נרחב * Selective pool of singles (declinesd to sell memberships to at least 1 million people) * בדיקה סלקטיבית של רווקים (סירבה למכור חברויות לפחות 1 מיליון אנשים) * Offer Guided communication, which can lead to more meaningful and deeper communication between matches, and can lead to a “known you forever” feeling * Strong offline marketing campaign that paid for itself * eHarmony Labs, which studies “biological, sociological, and neurological underpinnings of love” * Questionnaire demonstrates seriousness * Weaknesses * Increased competition with the development of more specialized sites, like JDate and ChristianSingles.net has put stress upon the more general eHarmony * eHarmony does not handle same-sex relationship building * Lengthy questionnaire * Declined memberships lead to short-term opportunity costs * EH charges about twice as much as other dating sites * Distinction between paying and non-paying members can cause problems. (pg 7) * Not engaged in other activities, thereby placing all its eggs in one basket (as opposed to Match, owned by IAC, which also owns HSN and Ticketmaster, or Yahoo! Personals) * EH only operates in the United States * Limited resources do not allow for quick, over-arching changes to be made * Opportunities * Only about 16% of US singles reported currently looking for a romantic partner. That leaves many singles available * Divorce rates are climbing, leaving many singles who are older, and who possibly have children, and Americans are more likely to re-marry * Possibly reaching out to more mid-term relationships * Possibly allowing all comers to become members * People 45 years and older constituted the fastest-growing segment of users, and more of the population are getting older, and more are getting divorced. This market seems to be expanding * Same-Sex pairing could account for another 10% of total heterosexual internet personals sites * Enhanced use of Fast-Track could lead to more pairings, thus enhancing pairing ratio * Perhaps some sort of integration between social networks and eHarmony could combine the power of social networks to contact people and the power of eHarmony to provide compatible matches * Possible diversification by acquiring other sites, or re-branding, creating new sites with specific focuses, but used under the eHarmony name. For example, eHarmony young professional * Threats * Competitors focused on Niche groups, where users already know who and what they’re looking for * Loss of identity, with Match’s “Chemistry” which uses its own algorithm * Free dating services – while they may not be as focused on the long-term, they do not charge members. Some users may not be looking for long-term relationships anyway * Free sites generate more traffic, therefore increasing advertising revenues * Online social networks can sometimes serve the same purpose as eharmony, but often not the same demographic * Match is backed by IAC, which has considerable clout * Match is priced about 10% below eHarmony * Match is making itself a common name overseas

Background eHarmony is an online dating website designed specifically to match single men and women for long-term relationships. It was founded by Neil Clark Warren, a psychologist and author of relationship advice books, along with Greg Forgatch, Warren’s son-in-law. To optimize the matching process, eHarmony operates eHarmony Labs, a relationship research facility. And eHarmony has a its own unique methodology and matching algorithm, which is a the main footstone for eHarmony.
Recently, eHarmony finds that there are more and more companies enter into matching market and its main competitors are copying its some features to improve their own competition. How eHarmony should address recent competitors actions. They now have four options and people in eHarmony are debating for choosing their strategies to defend their company, even broaden their current market share. At the same time, Their CEO, Greg Waldorf, must do a final decision that which option(s) the company should pursue.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
* A unique product with an extensive relationship questionnaire, a patented matching system and a guided communication system.
* Its founder, Dr. Warren, is a practicing psychologist focused on marriage and family relationships.
* Have a strong researching ability, and high investment in research and development of biological, sociological, and neurological aspects, even physical attraction.
* eHarmony’s matching is more scientific. It introduced matching on the basis of long-term compatibility.
* Three million registrations, at least 40% of which are active users.
* Company has its own business and moral standard. It refuses some potential clients like people already married or divorced more than three times.
* Customers of eHarmony have a high rate for matching successfully. In 2007, on average, 236 eHarmony members marry every day in US, representing a stunning 2% of marriages in US.
* Substantial investment in marketing brings eHarmony a strong growth.
* Smart marketing strategy makes eHarmony get more and more customers with a low ad expenses.
* eHarmony is more concerned with customers’ privacy than its competitors did.
Weaknesses
* There is also a unreasonable part for eHarmony matching website. The distinction between paying and non-paying members made pay member cannot received feedback from non-paying members.
* In a way, the barrier to joining the eHarmony is too high. This feature builds a limit line for its customers increase.
* eHarmony puts too energy only on serious long-term relationship segment. But there are indeed some market needs from other segments,