世論 What Japan Thinks

DIMSDRIVE Research recently conducted a poll on the subject of check-out shopping bags, the plastic bags most supermarkets give away free to shoppers. However, some chains have introduced charges for bags, most of the others encourage people to bring their own, and there is talk of introducing legislation to force all shops to charge for bags.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 15th of March, 2007 7,504 members of DIMSDRIVE’s online monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.4% of the sample was female, just 0.3% were in their teens, 16.6% in their twenties, 36.9% in their thirties, 27.9% in their forties, 13.7% in their fifties, and 4.6% aged sixty or older. 65.2% were married; 42.5% worked full-time in the private or public sectors, 24.2% were homemakers, 12.8% were part-timers, 9.2% were self-employed, 5.7% were unemployed (including retirees), 2.9% were students and 2.7% had other employment statuses.

Note that as well as taking your own bag with you, some supermarkets offer baskets for sale. In addition, if you refuse bags, supermarkets often offer points that may be collected and exchanged for gifts.

Last time I was in Austria shopping at a Spar in Vienna, they only had pay-for bags, costing, if I remember correctly, a not insignificant number of Euro cents (60 or so?), but this was for a large and substantial bag, which I think is a far better idea than charging for the current bags which are difficult to reuse for anything other than collecting household garbage, and I think people may be more understanding about paying for something valuable and definitely reuseable.

I’m also glad to see Q1, the frequency of visiting supermarkets, a figure I’ve been interested in finding out for a while!

UPDATE: I see that in the UK, Sainbury’s have launched an “I’m not a plastic bag” bag that seems to have caused quite a stir! Would a similar campaign work here, I wonder, although reading the article I don’t know if they are actually going to be used by the general public, or just kept as keepsakes or investments.

Research results

Q1: About how often do you go shopping at a supermarket? (Sample size=7,504)

Almost every day	12.5%
Three or four times a week	29.0%
Once or twice a week	41.0%
Two or three times a month	10.3%
Once a month	3.0%
Once every two or three months	1.2%
Less than that	1.7%
Don’t know	0.4%
Don’t go shopping at supermarkets	0.9%

Q2: Does the supermarket you use the most charge for plastic bags at the check-out? (Sample size=7,196, those who shop once a month or more)

Charges for them	6.9%
Offers them for free	92.4%
Don’t know	0.7%

Q3: Do you take your own shopping bag or basket when you go shopping at the supermarket you use the most? (Sample size=7,196, those who shop once a month or more)

Always carry (to SQ)	16.9%
Often carry (to SQ)	23.7%
Don’t carry much	24.4%
Never carry	35.0%

Looking at the age breakdown, the older the more often they they carry. For men, only 8.5% of those in their twenties always carried a bag, and almost doubling to 14.6% for the sixty and over group. For women, 14.5% of those in their twenties always carried a bag, rising to over double, or 32.7% of those over sixty. By frequency of visits, the regular shoppers were almost four times as likely as the once per month group to always carry a bag, and almost half of those who mainly shopped at places that charged for bags always brought their own with them.

Q3SQ: Why do you use you own bag? (Sample size=2,921, multiple answer)

Because I get points or a discount for having my own bag	64.0%
Because I don’t want to increase the number of check-out bags that get thrown away	52.6%
Because check-out bags are not good for the environment	35.9%
Because they are easy to carry	23.6%
Because I have to pay for check-out bags	13.2%
Because people can see inside check-out bags	6.6%
Because the special line for own bags is empty	0.2%
Other	3.0%
No particular reason	1.8%

Some of the other answers included that tidying up the bags at home was a pain, standard supermarket bags break too easily, easier to carry one bag after shopping at multiple stores, being seen carrying supermarket bags was not cool, and so on.

Q4: Do you agree with supermarkets charging for check-out bags? (Sample size=7,504)

Agree	43.9%
Disagree	22.6%
Can’t say either way	33.5%

There was little significant difference by age or sex, but those who already paid for check-out bags were much more in favour of the introduction of charging. Similarly, the more frequently people carried their own bag, the more in favour they were of charging.

Q5: If check-out bags are charged for, how much is an appropriate price for one? (Sample size=7,428)

One yen	21.4%
Two to four yen	12.8%
Five yen	40.5%
Six to ten yen	19.5%
Eleven to thirty yen	2.8%
Thirty-one to fifty yen	21.4%
Fifty-one to one hundred yen	1.3%
101 to 500 yen	0.2%
501 yen or more	0.1%

Those who already shopped at supermarkets that charged for bags were in favour of a higher price, presumably because as seen earlier, that group was more likely to use their own bag; indeed about 35% of those who always brought their own bag wanted to see a charge of at least six yen, whereas about half as many of those who never carried one wanted to see such a charge. 58.9% of those who opposed the introduction of charging wanted the minimum charge of just one yen applied.

Q6: If the supermarket you use the most started charging for check-out bags, what would you most likely do? (Sample size=6,644, those who most often use supermarkets with free check-out bags)

Bring my own shopping bag to put purchases in	68.2%
Shop at somewhere with free bags	8.8%
Pay for a check-out bag	7.7%
Carry goods home as is, or put in whatever bag I have at the time	7.1%
Use a free cardboard box, etc	4.2%
Other	1.1%
Don’t know	2.9%

Looking at the data by sex, only a small majority of men would bring their own shopping bag, whereas around 80% of women would.