世論 What Japan Thinks

One popular ranking survey from lat year was how to spot an otaku and otakette, so I wonder if this recent survey from goo Ranking into what image people have of a herbivore boy (both men and women) and a carnivore boy (both men and women).

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of August 2009 1,077 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were male, 8.4% in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 26.7% in their thirties, 28.2% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 11.2% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Herbivore boys have been the subject of news features such as this one from Reuters after a marketing firm identified (the more cynical might say “invented”) the trend. I’m definitely in the herbivore category, and not just because I’m a vegetarian, although I’m sure there’s some correlation there.

Ranking result

Q1: What is your image of “herbivore boys”? (Sample size=550, male)

Rank		Score
1	Indoor type	100
2=	Matches behaviour with women	74.5
2=	Likes spending time in his own room	74.5
4	Has small voice	71.6
5	Gets drunk easily	63.7
6	Doesn’t do vigorous sports	57.8
7	Likes narrow-legged trousers	48.0
8	Good listener	47.1
9	Likes computer games	46.1
10	Poor at deciding which restaurant to eat at	44.1
11	Has a weakness for all the latest sweets	39.2
12=	If he drinks, he prefers to drink at home	29.4
12=	Takes his own lunch box, drink bottle to work, school	29.4
14=	Handwritten characters are small	25.5
14=	Likes getting together with the same group	25.5
16	Doesn’t really like travel	18.6
17=	Loves wearing his parka	15.7
17=	Likes snack sweets	15.7
19	Has lots of female friends	14.7
20	Usually wears sneakers	13.7

Q1: What is your image of “herbivore boys”? (Sample size=527, female)

Rank		Score
1	Indoor type	100
2	Likes spending time in his own room	87.0
3	Has small voice	67.8
4	Matches behaviour with women	62.3
5=	Doesn’t do vigorous sports	59.6
5=	Gets drunk easily	59.6
7	Likes narrow-legged trousers	58.2
8	Good listener	56.2
9	Likes computer games	52.7
10	Poor at deciding which restaurant to eat at	50.7
11	Takes his own lunch box, drink bottle to work, school	40.4
12	If he drinks, he prefers to drink at home	38.4
13	Has a weakness for all the latest sweets	29.5
14	Likes getting together with the same group	26.7
15	Goes Dutch on dates	24.7
16	Handwritten characters are small	20.5
17	Has lots of female friends	19.2
18	Doesn’t really like travel	16.4
19=	Loves wearing his parka	15.8
19=	Usually wears sneakers	15.8

Q2: What is your image of “carnivore boys”? (Sample size=550, male)

Rank		Score
1	Works out at the gym	100
2	Has lots of female friends	89.9
3	Outdoor type	82.0
4	Regularly goes to drinking parties	75.3
5=	Good talker	59.6
5=	Loud voice	59.6
7=	Always praising the girls	58.4
7=	Visits a tanning salon	58.4
9	Doesn’t wear a vest under shirts	57.3
10=	Smooth talker	51.7
10=	Likes competitive sports	51.7
12	Likes stolen love	50.6
13	Is well-known	46.1
14	Interested in cars, motorbikes	43.8
15	Has two mobile phones	28.1
16=	Good at karaoke	27.0
16=	Picks up the bill on dates	27.0
16=	Has a long leather wallet	27.0
19	Good listener	25.8
20	Knows all about new restaurants, etc	23.6

Q2: What is your image of “carnivore boys”? (Sample size=527, female)

Rank		Score
1	Outdoor type	100
2	Works out at the gym	99.2
3	Regularly goes to drinking parties	84.3
4	Is well-known	83.5
5	Has lots of female friends	81.8
6	Loud voice	81.0
7	Good talker	73.6
8	Interested in cars, motorbikes	69.4
9	Smooth talker	60.3
10	Likes competitive sports	59.5
11	Always praising the girls	55.4
12	Picks up the bill on dates	50.4
13	Good at karaoke	38.0
14	Loves junk food	34.7
15	Good listener	33.9
16	Knows all about new restaurants, etc	30.6
17	Doesn’t wear a vest under shirts	28.1
18	Likes stolen love	26.4
19=	Visits a tanning salon	23.1
19=	Likes getting his photograph taken	23.1