世論 What Japan Thinks

Over the first five days of April 2007 MyVoice surveyed its internet community regarding the use of word of mouth web sites. To use the popular English buzzword, these sites could also be called CGM sites, or Consumer Generated Media sites, although I think that CGM covers a wider area than the word of mouth sites referenced by this survey.

Demographics

17,647 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 19% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 26% in their forties, and 14% in their fifties.

I’ve used kakaku.com a few times myself to get ideas of prices and user opinions on home applicances and computer peripherals. The lowest prices they display, however, are potentially misleading, I feel, as I don’t know how or if they account for haggling or for special one-day sales and the like. On the other hand, I do feel their user ratings are quite reliable. Very well worth a visit before purchasing, and their simple star ratings make it very easy to find out which items are best in their class. However, I end up doing most of my buying in a bricks and mortar store.

Research results

Q1: When purchasing products, what sources of information do you reference? (Sample size=17,647, multiple answer)

Word of mouth web sites	52.4%
Television, radio commercials	47.6%
Television, radio programs	47.6%
In-store, POP (Point of Purchase) advertising	44.9%
Word of mouth from friends, family	44.8%
Maker, industry web sites	41.0%
Magazines, specialist publications	39.2%
Shop staff explanations	35.0%
Newspaper columns	30.1%
Newspaper advertisements	29.8%
Free papers	22.4%
Other web sites	11.5%
Other	2.7%
Don’t use any particular reference source	6.7%
No answer	0.1%

Q2: What genres of word of mouth web sites have you used? (Sample size=17,647, multiple answer)

Product information sites (Kakaku.com, @cosme, etc)	62.0%
Electronic commerce site communities (Amazon, Rakuten Marketplace, etc)	49.7%
Bulletin boards (2 channel, etc)	23.7%
Blogs	19.5%
Q&A communities (Hatena, Oshiete! goo, etc)	18.9%
SNS (mixi, GREE, etc)	13.2%
Other	3.6%
None of them	19.7%
No answer	0.9%

Q3: How have you used word of mouth web sites? (Sample size=17,647)

Both read from and written to word of mouth sites	22.1%
Only written to word of mouth sites	1.5%
Only read from word of mouth sites	54.4%
Not used them	22.1%

Q4: For what products did you refer to a word of mouth web site before purchase? (Sample size=word of mouth web site users, multiple answer)

Home appliances	54.5%
Computer and peripherals	38.4%
Books	26.2%
Cosmetics	26.2%
CDs, DVDs	19.5%
Mobile phones, PDAs	16.9%
Health foods, supplements	13.8%
Ordinary foodstuff	13.7%
Game consoles	12.4%
Regional delicacies, delivery items	12.1%
Clothes, fashion accessories	10.4%
Furniture, household items	8.9%
Drinks (including alcohol)	6.9%
Other	7.5%
Never referenced them before buying	10.3%
No answer	0.4%

Q5: How do you most often purchase items after referencing word of mouth web sites? (Sample size=referenced word of mouth web site before purchasing users)

Based on information obtained from site, purchased item from that site	18.6%
Based on information obtained from site, purchased item through link from that site	9.6%
Based on information obtained from site, purchased item from other site	20.7%
Based on information obtained from site, bought from brick and mortar store	25.5%
Based on information obtained from site and other information, purchased item from that site	2.6%
Based on information obtained from site and other information, purchased item from other site	6.7%
Based on information obtained from site and other information, bought from brick and mortar store	11.9%
Other	3.8%
No answer	0.7%