世論 What Japan Thinks

First, an apology for What Japan Thinks being down again earlier today. I’ve got something strange going on at my host.

Now, on to the survey; MyVoice took a look at email newsletter usage.

Demographics

Over the first five days of June 2009 14,939 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 1% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 18% aged fifty or older.

I am probably signed up to about ten or so newsletters, but most of them I don’t look at. About the only one I really do pay attention to is from Flying Blue (KLM and Air France mileage card) as they quite often have decent promotional offers. My wife also forwards the Mister Donuts mail to me which usually has nice discount coupons.

Research results

Q1: About how many email newsletters are you currently registered for? (Sample size=14,939)

One	1.4%
Two to five	25.0%
Six to nine	18.7%
Ten to fifteen	21.9%
Sixteen to nineteen	3.4%
Twenty or more	23.3%
None at all	6.4%

Q2: How did you come to sign up to these newsletters? (Sample size=those signed up for newsletters, multiple answer)

Needed to sign up for the newsletter when registering for something	64.1%
Signed up for the newsletter when registering for something	39.0%
Just came across the site, newsletter archive and got interested	34.7%
Read about it on a web article, blog and got interested	24.3%
Don’t remember registering for it, but just started getting it	24.3%
Read about it in a book, magazine and got interested	11.4%
Read about it on a bulletin board, word of mouth site and got interested	7.9%
Friends told me about it and got interested	4.7%
Other	7.4%
No answer	0.2%

Q3: Of all the newsletters you receive, how many do you actually read? (Sample size=those signed up for newsletters)

One	5.1%
Two to five	52.0%
Six to nine	17.9%
Ten to fifteen	10.9%
Sixteen to nineteen	1.4%
Twenty or more	5.8%
None at all	6.4%
No answer	0.4%

Q4: What genres of newsletters do you read? (Sample size=those who read newsletters, multiple answer)

Prizes, free gifts, promotions	63.6%
Information from a company, service that I’m registered with	54.4%
Shopping	32.8%
News, information	22.5%
Hobbies	22.1%
Travel, outdoor, leisure	21.2%
Food, restaurants	20.4%
Entertainment	18.1%
Fashion, beauty	17.8%
Finance, politics, economy	15.3%
Event ticket information	12.7%
Lifestyle	11.7%
Health, medical, mental health	11.6%
Computer, IT	11.0%
Business-oriented	8.3%
Art, culture	8.2%
Sport	6.8%
Regional information	6.7%
Job seeking, qualifications, etc	6.2%
Communication	3.9%
Other	5.1%
No answer	0.0%

Q5: From the newsletters you read, what kinds of details are you interested in and read? (Sample size=those who read newsletters, multiple answer)

Information related to things I need to know	80.4%
Free gift, promotion information	51.3%
New product, service information	36.3%
Latest news	33.4%
Topical matters, etc	25.2%
Word of mouth, experiences, other practical information	21.2%
Articles, summary information	7.9%
Advertising, PR	3.5%
Other	2.7%
Nothing in particular	3.3%
No answer	0.9%

Q6: From the email newsletters you have received, why did you cancel or stop reading them? (Sample size=14,939, multiple answer)

Too frequent delivery	54.6%
Contents were not interesting, lost interest	53.7%
Newsletter was full of advertisements	35.9%
Just registered to enter a promotion	28.1%
Lots of text	27.2%
Became unnecessary to read that newsletter	26.4%
Didn’t remember registering for it	20.1%
Difficult to read layout	18.8%
Email data size was too big	8.9%
Magazine stopped publishing	8.6%
Magazine title wasn’t interesting	4.6%
Too infrequent delivery	4.3%
Dissatisfied with the time, day of delivery	1.9%
Other	1.6%
Never stopped reading, unregistered from a newsletter	2.2%
Never registered for a newsletter	2.7%
No answer	1.6%