A Queensland State Election would be won by the Liberal National Party (LNP) if held now. LNP support is 55.5% (up 6.7% since the March 2009 Queensland State Election) leading the ALP (44.5%, down 6.7%) on a Two-Party Preferred basis, a special telephone Morgan Poll taken over the last month finds.

Despite Premier Bligh’s high disapproval rating (64.5%) for ‘handling her job as Premier of Queensland,’ Bligh is still just the ‘Preferred Premier’ of Queenslanders (38%) slightly ahead of Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek (37.5%).

Better Queensland Premier (Bligh v Langbroek)

The special Morgan Poll finds that Anna Bligh (38%) is only just preferred as the “Better Premier of Queensland” by the Queensland electorate ahead of Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek (37.5%) while 24.5% can’t say.

Job Approval (Bligh v Langbroek)

The Morgan Poll also finds that although voters prefer Anna Bligh to John-Paul Langbroek as “Better Premier” they do not approve of the way she’s handling her job as Premier of Queensland with nearly two-thirds, 64.5% disapproving of Bligh’s handling of the job as Premier compared to only 25% that approve while 10.5% can’t say.

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New research in New Zealand measuring customer satisfaction with non-food stores reveals that Unichem at 88.7% was the leader for the 12 months to December 2009, closely followed by Amcal at 87.8%. These two pharmacies scored above the average for pharmacies (86.9%) measured in the current Roy Morgan Retail Satisfaction Report for New Zealand and scored well above the average for all 66 non-food stores (83.8%) surveyed.

Life Pharmacy (86.7%) and Radius Pharmacy (84.5%) both fell below the average for customer satisfaction for pharmacies surveyed although they both scored above the average for total non food store customer satisfaction.

All four pharmacies ranked above the average for non-food store customer satisfaction, indicating people are generally more satisfied with their dealings with pharmacies than with all non food stores.

Satisfaction with New Zealand Pharmacies – 12 months to December 2009





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The latest Roy Morgan NZ Poll shows support for John Key’s National-led Government is virtually unchanged, down 0.5% to 57% comprising National Party 51.5% (down 2%), Maori Party 2% (down 0.5%), ACT NZ 2.5% (up 1%) and United Future 1% (up 1%).

Support for Opposition Parties is 43% (up 0.5%); Labour Party 33.5% (up 2%), Greens 6.5% (down 1.5%), New Zealand First 2% (unchanged), the Progressive Party 0.5% (unchanged) and Others 0.5% (unchanged).

If a National Election were held today the National Party would win easily.

The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is 137 (down 3.5 points) with 64% (down 1%) of New Zealanders saying New Zealand is ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to 27% (up 2.5%) that say New Zealand is ‘heading in the wrong direction.’

Consumer Confidence is now 125.4 (down 2.7 points in a week), according to the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating conducted on the weekend of March 13/14, 2010. The Consumer Confidence rating is now 31.9pts higher than a year ago, March 14/15, 2009 (93.5).

The fall has principally been driven by a decrease confidence amongst Australians about their personal finances.

27% (down 5%) of Australians say their family is ‘better off financially’ compared to a year ago while 30% (up 3%) of Australians say their family is ‘worse off financially.’

Now 43% (down 3%) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year compared to 15% (up 1%) of Australians that expect their family to be ‘worse off financially.’

A reduced majority, 53% (down 3% – and the lowest since December 2009) of Australians, say ‘now is a good time to buy’ major household items while 17% (down 1%) say ‘now is a bad time to buy’ major household items.

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• Consumer confidence slipped slightly, but the level remains very robust.

• Current conditions improve but future conditions are looking a little less rosy.

• A more marked lift in current conditions was measured in the older age groups.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence measure slipped nearly 2 points in March.

Despite this fall, the overall level remains positive, with the March quarter average 4 points higher than the preceding December quarter. The March figure is the lowest recorded thus year, but it remains the fourth highest level to be measured during the recent rebound.

Households are more optimistic about the current situation and less optimistic about the future prospects. Consumers viewed the current situation more favourably but discounted the forward looking questions. The proportion of respondents that thought they were better off now compared to a year ago increased 4 points. A net 20 percent of consumers thought it was a good time to buy a major household appliance, up 6 points from a month ago.

The 12 month outlook is less certain. The largest drop in forward looking questions was measured in expectations about the economy in general in 12 months time. This index figure dropped 9 points to 120.

Full article.

Roy Morgan Research is pleased to announce the release of the December quarter Automotive Currency Report, covering key consumer marketing metrics of New Car Buying Intention, Brand Awareness, Consideration, Advertising Recall, Brand Rejection, Brand Loyalty and Satisfaction, which each serve as Key Performance Indicators of New Car Buying Intention.

Market Overview

o The Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating remains at a comparable level to prior to the ‘Global Financial Crisis’. Interest rate movement has the potential to dampen Consumer Confidence and restrain growth in new car sales volume among consumers with mortgages (who represent around 37% of the private new car market*).

o At VFACTS Segment level, the Small Passenger Segment and SUV Segment are the two segments to have gained share of total intention, with Medium Passenger Segment declining (refer chart below).

o Brand Awareness, Consideration, Advertising Recall, Brand Rejection, Brand Loyalty and Satisfaction each serve as Key Performance Indicators of New Car Buying Intention.

VFACTS Segment Share of New Car Buying Intention, among those intending to buy a new car in the next four years

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and

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In early March support for the ALP is 55.5% (down 1%) maintaining a strong two-party preferred lead over the L-NP (44.5%, up 1%) according to the latest Face-to-Face Morgan Poll conducted over the last two weekends (February 27/28 & March 6/7, 2010).

If a Federal Election were held today the ALP would still win easily, according to the Morgan Poll.

The ALP primary vote is 45% (unchanged), ahead of the L-NP (38.5%, up 1%), while looking at the minor parties shows support for the Greens (8.5%, down 0.5%), Family First (2%, down 0.5%) and Independents/ Others (6%, unchanged).

The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is now at 131 (down 1 point) with 57% (down 1.5%) of Australians confident that Australia is ‘heading in the right direction,’ compared to 26% (down 0.5%) that say Australia is ‘heading in the wrong direction.’

Consumer Confidence is now 128.1 (down 1.4 points in a week), according to the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating conducted on the weekend of March 6/7, 2010. The Consumer Confidence rating is now 30.8pts higher than a year ago, March 7/8, 2009 (97.3).

The fall has been driven by a decrease in confidence amongst Australians about economic conditions over the next 12 months and five years.

Of Australia generally 47% (down 2%) say that Australia as a whole will have ‘good times’ financially during the next 12 months compared to 17% (up 1%) that say we’ll have ‘bad times’ financially in the next 12 months.

In terms of personal finances 46% (down 2%) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year compared to 14% (unchanged) of Australians that expect their family to be ‘worse off financially.’

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