世論 What Japan Thinks

This recent survey from MyVoice looked at the topic of detergents and soaps for washing clothes.

Demographics

Over the first five days of July 2009 15,060 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 1% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 36% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 19% aged fifty or older.

Q1 is a bit confusing as it doesn’t make clear how husbands should respond, given that I doubt that many married Japanese men actually ever turn on a washing machine. Even I don’t do washing, although at weekends I always help with the hanging out and folding up. Given 46% of the sample being male and 22.6% of the sample not washing clothes themselves, that’s at worst roughly half the men don’t wash clothes. Given that MyVoice’s monitor group’s overall demographics are 55.6% married, then it is probable that the vast majority of the 22.6% on non-washers are husbands, and the rest perhaps children at home, those in dormitories, and those who send everything off to the cleaners. As a translation note, Q1 directly asks about the respondent himself or herself, but Q2 expands to cover the whole family.

Research results

Q1: About how often do you wash clothes? (Sample size=15,060)

Almost every day	36.4%
Four or five days a week	11.2%
Two or three days a week	20.1%
Once a week	7.1%
Less than once a week	2.5%
Don’t wash clothes myself (to end of survey)	22.6%

Q2: Which of the following kinds of soaps do you currently use at home? (Sample size=clothes washers, multiple answer)

Powder detergent	67.3%
Softener	55.4%
Liquid detergent	45.8%
Bleach, whitener	32.4%
Gentle detergent	22.5%
All-in-one detergent (added bleach, softener, conditioner etc)	7.8%
Washing machine-use soap	6.4%
Conditioner	6.2%
Clothes-use treatment agent	2.4%
Other	1.7%
Don’t use any (to end of survey)	0.2%
No answer (to end of survey)	0.4%

Q3: Which of the following clothes-washing soaps do you mainly use at home? (Sample size=soap users)

Attack	30.5%
Top	13.9%
Ariel	11.7%
New Beads	10.7%
Bold	9.6%
Blue Dia	5.3%
Store own-brand, private label	3.8%
Emal	1.8%
Fafa	1.2%
Acron	0.9%
Style Fit	0.8%
Arau	0.4%
Bonus	0.3%
SA8	0.3%
Dry Up	0.0%
Other	7.5%
Don’t know	2.9%
No answer	0.3%

Q4: Where do you buy the soap that you mainly use at home? (Sample size=soap users, multiple answer)

Drug store	51.3%
Supermarket, hypermarket	49.8%
Discount store	18.8%
On-line shopping	2.4%
Convenience store	0.9%
Catalogue mail order, television shopping	0.7%
100 yen store	0.5%
Variety shop	0.5%
Other	6.6%
Don’t buy myself	7.9%
No answer	0.7%

Q5: When buying soap, what points are important to you? (Sample size=soap users, multiple answer)

Price	72.0%
Maker, brand	38.1%
Cleaning power	32.9%
Type of detergent (liquid, powder, etc)	28.2%
Has nice smell	25.3%
Size, contents	23.8%
Can kill smells, bacteria, etc	19.8%
Dissolves easily	19.7%
In the habit of using	16.7%
Good for drying indoors	13.6%
Can use refills	13.5%
Gentle on skin	12.3%
Doesn’t damage clothes	10.4%
Easy-to-use container	9.2%
Gentle on the environment	7.5%
Whether it has added softener	5.6%
Whether it has added whitener, bleach	5.5%
No additives	4.1%
Often see in the shops	3.5%
Television advertising impression	3.3%
Of plant origin	1.9%
Doesn’t tangle clothes	1.7%
Can cut ultra-violet penetration	1.3%
Naming	1.1%
Appears on posters	1.1%
Package design	1.0%
New product	1.0%
Other	1.8%
Nothing in particular	4.5%
No answer	0.3%