2016: MCA Consumer Perception Survey - Postal Services

The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) is today publishing the results of a Household Perception Survey. The following are the main highlights of the study.

Overall Service Quality
94% of respondents claimed that they were satisfied with the overall quality of MaltaPost’s postal services (89% in 2014).

Expenditure
Since 2014, the average amount of money spent by households on posting articles in the last 12 months increased, with 23% of households spending more than €20 annually, as against 16% in 2014.

Sending and Receiving Letters
58% of respondents claimed to have received the same number of letters in the last 12 months, whilst those claiming to have received fewer letters increased to 32% from 22% in 2014. With regard to the amount of letters sent, 56% of respondents claimed to have sent the same number of letters over a one-year period. This figure is consistent with that reported in 2014.

Complaints
10% of respondents claimed to have made a complaint to MaltaPost within the previous 12 months.

The most common complaints related to misdelivery (25%), a  reduction of 11% since 2014, followed by delay (17%), which increased by 4% since 2014. Of those respondents who claimed to have filed a complaint, 71% were satisfied with the way their complaint was handled, a significant increase from 28% in 2014.

Website usage
98% of respondents claimed to have made use of MaltaPost’s website in the last 12 months, which represents a substantial increase since 2014 (20%).

This round of research has shown consistency with previous studies carried out by the MCA in a number of key areas. The trends observed over the past years include decreasing letter volumes, increased usage of email as a substitute for letters, an increased acceptance of deferred delivery, and a general shift in usage towards parcels due to heightened eCommerce activity.

This survey was carried out carried out via telephone between October and December 2016. 500 respondents over the age of 18 were chosen randomly in order to create a representative sample, with each respondent identified as being the person mainly responsible for the mail in their household.

 

As regulator for postal services the Malta Communications Authority carries out research on a regular basis. This survey, part of a series of surveys examining household and business use of postal services, is intended to assess the extent of bulk mailers’ satisfaction with the services provided by MaltaPost, as well as to monitor a number of aspects related to postal services (such as price levels, quality and access). The aim of this research is to guide the Authority’s decisions, the effects of which are felt by consumers and businesses alike, by providing an additional source of information for such decisions.

 

Download Household Postal Survey presentation
Download Press Release in Maltese