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Understanding the readership of Mortgage Finance Gazette

The findings are based on an analysis of data collected via a readership questionnaire, which was inserted into the May 1999 issue of Mortgage Finance Gazette, and sent to its subscriber base.

The report was analysed and compiled by an independent market research organisation - Coussins Associates in November 1999.

1. Type of mortgage lending organisation
Respondents from mortgage lending organisations were asked to specify the type of organisation they work for. Over half, 66%, work for building societies, reflecting both the continuing importance of such organisations to the mortgage business. This group is followed by banks (25%), other types of mortgage lending institutions (6%) and sub prime lenders (3%).

2. Size of organisation
Respondents were asked to state the size of their organisation by number of employees. Almost a third of respondents, 29%, the largest single category, are from large organisations employing more than 2,000 employees. Only 6% work in organisations with between 1,001 and 2,000 employees, 34% work in organisations that employ between 101 and 1,000 employees and 32% work in organisations that employ between 1 and 100 employees.

This data indicates that, while Mortgage Finance Gazette is read across a large spectrum of different sized organisations, the majority of the readership are drawn from larger organisations reflecting the skew of the readership towards the traditional, larger lending institutions.

3. About the Respondents

3.1 Their Occupation

Overall, 69% of respondents are at the middle management level or above. The largest single group, 29% are senior HQ managers showing that MFG clearly reached senior people within large organisations. 32% are managing directors, chief executives or other directors. 8% of the group are middle managers at HQ, 8% are other managers, 6% are branch managers, 4% are regional managers, 4% are junior management at HQ,

Type of Mortgage Lender

Building society	66%
Sub prime lender	3%

Other types of mortgage lending institution	6%
Bank	25%

Number of Employees

4% are marketing directors and the remaining 6% consists of directors of IT or MIS and financial directors or officers.

3.2 Purchasing Power

Respondents were asked to specify their level of involvement in the decision to purchase products and services in excess of £500 from suppliers. Around three-quarters of the readership have a key influence on purchase decisions. 39%, the largest single category, make the decision to buy themselves, while a further 31% influence and advise on the decision to buy and 5% specify products and services for others to buy.

The purchasing power of readers further reflects their occupational profile. As would be expected, those who make or influence the decision to buy are typically senior HQ mangers, managing directors, chief executives or other directors. These findings are consistent with the assertion that the readership of MFG comprises mostly key decision-makers.

3.3 Size of Purchasing Budget

Respondents were asked to specify the size of the budget that they control in relation to purchasing. Results reveal that MFG readers have a significant budget responsibility. Indeed 42% of the readership control a budget in excess of £100,000, with 5% controlling a budget in excess of £1.1 million, 16% controlling a budget of £500,001 - £1 million and 21%, the largest single group, controlling a budget of £100,000 - £500,000. Lower down the scale, 40% control a budget of between £5,001 and £50,000, with 13% controlling £25,001 - £50,000, 16% controlling £10,001 - £25,000 and 11% controlling £5,001-10,000. Only 18% of the readership control a budget of less than £5,000.

On an average grossed up basis this would set the combined purchasing power of the Mortgage Finance Gazette readership at over £1.09 billion.
 

4. Length of time subscribing to Mortgage Finance Gazette

Respondents were asked for how long they have been subscribing to Mortgage Finance Gazette. The largest single group, 39%, have been subscribing for more than 10 years suggesting a loyal readership, and an overall satisfaction with the content and quality of the publication. 36% have been subscribing for between 3 and 10 years and 18% have been subscribing for up to two years.

5. Principle reasons for subscribing

The group were asked to rate their reasons for subscribing against a range of statements, on a scale ranging from agree strongly to disagree strongly.

A clear and encouraging finding is that the majority of readers, indeed 91%, agree / agree strongly that a principle reason for subscribing to Mortgage Finance Gazette is that it keeps them up to date with what is going on in the whole mortgage industry. A further 87% agree / agree strongly that it gives them a brief overview on industry developments while 85% agree / agree strongly that the publication covers some useful topics in depth. 69% agree / agree strongly that Mortgage Finance Gazette is an easy way to keep staff and colleagues up to date with what is going on in the industry and 67% subscribe because they like to monitor competitive developments. These results demonstrate that Mortgage Finance Gazette has the ability to meet a range of industry demands, providing an overview of industry developments, whilst also retaining the interest of those who seek more in-depth coverage of certain issues. The readers of Mortgage Finance Gazette are undoubtedly busy people yet obviously view the publication's content as worthy of their time.

6. Their view of the publication

The group were asked to rate the publication against a range of statements, on a scale from agree stongly to disagree strongly. The following table denotes the percentage of respondents agreeing or agreeing strongly with each statement.

Statement Agreeing / Agreeing strongly I found the quality of industry specific information particularly good 74% Overall quality of the articles is very good 72% Overall it meets my needs best because it covers everything t do with the mortgage business 63% Overall look of the magazine is attractive 63%

The majority of the group, 74%, agree / agree strongly that the quality of industry specific information is very good while 72% also think that the quality of the articles is very good. 63% feel that Mortgage Finance Gazette covers their needs by covering everything to do with the mortgage business and that the overall look of the magazine is attractive.

7. Their reading habits

This section considers how frequently the different sections of the publication are read, how long respondents spend reading the magazine and how many people they share it with.

7.1 Frequency with which sections are read
Respondents were asked to specify on a scale rating from read in every issue to never read, how often they read the different sections of Mortgage Finance Gazette. The table below details the percentage of readers who read sections in most or in every issue.

Section % Read in most or every issue News 96 Market Comment 83 Editors Comment 78 CML/BSA Views 70 People and places 70 Features 69

News comprises the section that is read most frequently, with 96% of readers reading it in most or every issue. Market Comments also rated highly with 83% reading them in most or every issue.

It is unsurprising that key decision-makers, who make up the majority of MFG's readership, require regular updates on industry developments in the form of news and market comments. The encouraging aspect is that they turn to MFG to satisfy this requirement.

7.2 Time spent reading the publication

The readership of MFG comprises busy key decision-makers who take a range of publications, yet the vast majority of respondents, 80%, spend more than 20 minutes reading the publication. The largest single group, 59% spend between 21 to 60 minutes reading MFG. However, a further 19% spend between one and two hours and 2% spend more than 2 hours.

7.3 Other people sharing the publication

The group was asked how many other people share their copy of the publication. 67% of readers share their copy with at least one other person suggesting that the readership of MFG exceeds the circulation. 15% share with one other person only, 25% with two others, 9% with three, 4% with four 7% with five others and 7% with more than five. Around one third of the group, 33%, does not share their copy of the publication with anyone else.

Bulk Subscribers

Of the total paid subscriptions, 66% are purchased as a bulk order. A bulk subscription involves an institution taking a total of ten or more subscriptions. These include amongst others: Britannia Building Society, Derbyshire Building Society, West Bromwich Building Society, Alliance & Leicester, Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, Halifax, Newcastle Building Society, Nottingham Building Society, Northern Rock, Woolwich, Bradford & Bingley Building Society, Lambeth Building Society, Saffron Walden Building Society, etc. In total, over 80% of the institutions active in the UK Housing Finance Market.

Single Copy Subscriptions

The remaining 34% are single copy subscribers. Again, these individuals represent most of the remaining institutions active in the mortgage market, but also include suppliers to this industry.

If you are looking to target the mortgage divisions of banks, building societies, insurance companies, centralised lenders etc, then Mortgage Finance Gazette can get you in where the decisions are made. Build the extra selling power of Mortgage Finance Gazette into your schedule now.