世論 What Japan Thinks

I once met someone who got chucked out of a department store for eating whole platefoods of the sample food, but if you play by the rules in Japanese food courts you can get to try a decent amount of free food. To see what the average Japanese person gets up to, MyVoice recently surveyed its online community to see what they thought about free samples.

Demographics

Over the first five days of July 2007 12,654 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was male, 2% in their teens, 18% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 27% in their forties, and 14% aged fifty or older.

My favourite free sample is always food, and I find Hanshin department store in Umeda, Osaka a good place to try before I have no intention of buying. Other than that, I don’t really collect much else, although wifey saves up free cosmetic samples for use on holidays, and she quite often ends up buying the food we sample.

Note that paper tissues are exempt from this survey. Oh, and talking of free samples, all of you in Japan did try to get a free cream puff, I hope! The offer is still open, just in case you missed it the first time.

Research results

Q1: Do you take free samples? (Sample size=12,654)

When gathering information, etc, I actively get them	11.3%
I don’t gather information, just actively get them	19.6%
If I’m interested I get them	53.7%
Don’t get them much	14.2%
Never get them	1.0%

Note that the above question, and later questions too, covers both actively seeking out freebies and being offered them.

Q2: Which of the following kinds of free samples do you often get? (Sample size=12,654, multiple answer)

Food	58.9%
Health foods	56.5%
Cosmetics, beauty items	56.0%
Drink	51.7%
Hair care	46.8%
Daily items	36.3%
Tobacco products	18.4%
Baby goods	14.6%
Entertainment, leisure	13.0%
Internet, software	9.8%
Educational, language learning, self-improvement	4.2%
Other	5.1%
Never got free stuff	3.1%
No answer	0.1%

Q3: From where have you received free samples? (Sample size=those who get free samples, multiple answer)

Inside shop, at check out	76.0%
On the street	60.1%
From internet page	48.1%
Station, in front of station	37.4%
Direct mail	35.4%
Mail order catalogue	25.7%
Delivered to post box	7.1%
From friends	7.1%
Other	4.4%
No answer	0.4%

Note that getting free samples from the internet includes the mobile internet world, and refers to not just software products, but also to applying for physical free samples to be sent to one’s door.

Q4: Which of the following free samples do you actually try out? (Sample size=those who get free samples, multiple answer)

Food	59.6%
Health foods	54.0%
Cosmetics, beauty items	52.9%
Drink	50.1%
Hair care	46.7%
Daily items	34.1%
Tobacco products	16.9%
Baby goods	13.7%
Entertainment, leisure	10.1%
Internet, software	7.8%
Educational, language learning, self-improvement	3.2%
Other	4.0%
Never tried free stuff	1.4%
No answer	0.3%

Q5: Which type of free sample were you most happy to receive? (Sample size=those who get free samples, multiple answer)

Food	19.3%
Cosmetics, beauty items	18.6%
Drink	15.5%
Hair care	7.1%
Health foods	6.5%
Tobacco products	5.3%
Daily items	5.2%
Baby goods	3.7%
Entertainment, leisure	0.9%
Internet, software	0.8%
Educational, language learning, self-improvement	0.2%
Other	1.0%
Nothing in particular	15.3%
No answer	0.6%

Q6: Which types of products have you bought after getting a free sample? (Sample size=those who get free samples, multiple answer)

Cosmetics, beauty items	29.0%
Food	28.5%
Drink	22.0%
Hair care	20.1%
Health foods	16.4%
Daily items	11.7%
Baby goods	7.6%
Tobacco products	4.5%
Internet, software	1.8%
Entertainment, leisure	1.3%
Educational, language learning, self-improvement	0.6%
Other	1.5%
Never bought anything thanks to free samples	31.6%
No answer	0.5%

Q7: Which types of products from Q6 have you continued to buy? (Sample size=those who have bought due to free samples, multiple answer)

Cosmetics, beauty items	26.8%
Food	17.0%
Hair care	15.0%
Drink	13.9%
Health foods	12.5%
Daily items	8.1%
Baby goods	6.0%
Tobacco products	2.9%
Internet, software	1.0%
Entertainment, leisure	0.5%
Educational, language learning, self-improvement	0.4%
Other	1.3%
Never repeatedly bought anything thanks to free samples	30.5%
No answer	0.8%